A Taishō Banker's House, Registered in 2002
The Main Building of the Former Kishi Residence (旧来住家住宅主屋, Kyū Kishi-ke Jūtaku Shuoku, also written Kishike Jutaku) is a two-storey wooden house at 394-1 Nishiwaki, Nishiwaki City, Hyōgo Prefecture, completed in 1918 and entered on Japan's register of Tangible Cultural Properties (Structures) on 14 February 2002 under registration number 28-0092. It covers a building area of 242 square metres beneath a tiled roof, and it is owned today by the city.
The client was Kishi Umekichi, a local banker whose family had traded in yarn for generations. Nishiwaki in the 1910s was riding the first great wave of Banshū-ori, the yarn-dyed cotton cloth woven along the Kako, Sugihara and Noma rivers, whose water supported the dyeing trade. Money moved through the town, and Umekichi spent a great deal of it on this house.
Approach it from the street and the front reads as an old merchant house: a low half-storey under the eaves, the type called tsushi-nikai, pierced by mushiko-mado, the small plastered lattice windows that ventilated attics in Edo-period townhouses. Nothing about that face suggests the twentieth century. Step past the heavy front gate and the impression starts to come apart.
Why the Agency for Cultural Affairs Registered It
Registration was granted under the criterion covering buildings that cannot easily be recreated. The Agency for Cultural Affairs summary points to the gap between the traditional exterior and what lies behind it: the interior plan comes close to the naka-rōka or central-corridor type, a layout that spread through Japanese houses only after the Meiji period, and the carpenters used hanegi lever beams together with iron rods to stop the eaves and the kamoi lintels from drooping over time. The same summary singles out the sheer quantity of meiboku, prize timber, worked into the fabric.
Two rows of rooms run east and west on either side of that corridor. The southern row received guests. The northern row belonged to the family. Kitchen and bathing rooms sit at the eastern end. What makes the arrangement worth a second look is that the corridor itself is floored in tatami rather than boards, so the two rows read as one continuous interior instead of being cut apart by a passage.
Nishiwaki City states that the house was put together without a single nail, and that the timber inventory, the expense ledger and the household record all survive. That paper trail is unusual. For most houses of this age the sequence of construction has to be reconstructed from joinery and hearsay; here the documents allow the building's history to be read directly, which is part of why the property carries the weight it does among Japan's high-end private houses of the period.
Details Worth Slowing Down For
The ranma transom above the ground-floor reception room is carved from shimagaki, striped persimmon, a timber prized for the dark irregular figuring that runs through pale sapwood. One panel shows a bat. Another shows a hototogisu, the lesser cuckoo, against a moon. According to the city's account, the bat's eyes are inlaid with black coral. In Japanese and Chinese practice the bat is a homophone for good fortune, so this is a blessing hung above the heads of arriving guests rather than a piece of gothic whimsy.
Look up inside the tokonoma of the main reception room. The ceiling there is boarded in yahazu-bari, an arrow-notch pattern that meets in shallow chevrons, a finish nobody standing in the room would notice unless they deliberately raised their eyes. The city's own description makes the point that effort was spent in places that were never meant to be seen.
On the roof, find the Seven Lucky Gods. They appear as sculpted tiles, easy to miss unless a guide points them out.
Admission is free and the volunteer staff, four of them working in rotation on behalf of the Nishiwaki TMO under contract from the city board of education, will walk visitors through the building at no charge if asked. Opening hours are 10:00 to 18:00, shortened to a 17:00 close between October and March. The house shuts on Mondays, moving to the following day when a Monday falls on a public holiday, and over the New Year period from 29 December to 3 January. Rooms in the main building can be booked by the hour for 100 yen per room, which is how local tea, haiku and flower-arranging groups use the place.
Nishiwaki-shi Station on the JR Kakogawa Line lies roughly 1.5 kilometres away, about twenty minutes on foot through the old commercial quarter; local buses cover the distance in under ten minutes and stop within a short walk of the gate. Parking is available, though large coaches should call ahead. Photography rules are not published, so ask at the reception desk before raising a camera indoors.
Two other things share the site. A Western-style building in the grounds operates as Nishiwaki Jōhō Miraikan 21, a shop and information point for Banshū-ori textiles, and a community restaurant with a rotating roster of chefs occupies the space next door. Part of the main building and the storehouse are used as gallery space.
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Q&A
- Can visitors go inside the Main Building of the Former Kishi Residence, and is there an admission charge?
- Yes. The interior is open to the public and admission is free. Volunteer staff are on site and will guide visitors through the rooms without charge if asked at the desk.
- What are the opening hours and closed days of the Former Kishi Residence Main Building?
- Open 10:00 to 18:00, with a 17:00 close between October and March. Closed Mondays, or the following day when a Monday is a public holiday, and from 29 December to 3 January.
- How do you reach the Former Kishi Residence Main Building from Nishiwaki-shi Station?
- The house stands about 1.5 kilometres from Nishiwaki-shi Station on the JR Kakogawa Line, roughly a twenty-minute walk. Local bus services cover the route in under ten minutes, with a stop close to the entrance. There is a car park on site.
- What makes the Main Building of the Former Kishi Residence architecturally unusual?
- Its street face keeps the old townhouse formula of a low tsushi-nikai half-storey with mushiko-mado lattice windows, while the interior adopts a near-central-corridor plan and uses hanegi lever beams and iron rods against sagging. Traditional appearance and modern technique sit in the same building.
- May photographs be taken inside the Former Kishi Residence Main Building?
- No photography policy is published for the interior. Check with the reception staff on arrival, since parts of the building are also let out by the hour for private group use.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Kishi Residence Main Building (旧来住家住宅主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 394-1 Nishiwaki, Nishiwaki City, Hyōgo Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structures), registration number 28-0092 |
| Year Designated | Registered 14 February 2002; public notice 12 March 2002 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Wooden, two storeys, tiled roof; building area 242 square metres |
| Owner | Nishiwaki City |
| Public Access | Open 10:00 to 18:00 (to 17:00 October to March); closed Mondays and 29 December to 3 January; admission free |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Kyu Kishike Jutaku Shuoku
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00002673
- Cultural Heritage Online: Kyu Kishike Jutaku Shuoku
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/182583
- Nishiwaki City: Former Kishi Residence
- https://www.city.nishiwaki.lg.jp/kakukanogoannai/kyouikuiinkai/kyouikukanribu/syougaigakusyuka/syougaigakusyuu/kishi/1356660051070.html
- Nishiwaki City Tourism Pages: Former Kishi Residence
- https://www.city.nishiwaki.lg.jp/kankotokusan/nishiwakikitaharimanokanko/kankou_shigen/1359418680509.html
- Nishiwaki Tourism and Products Association: Former Kishi Residence
- https://www.nishiwaki-kanko.jp/guide/sightseeing/kyukishikejutaku.html
- Nishiwaki City: The Banshu-ori Textile Industry
- https://www.city.nishiwaki.lg.jp/kakukanogoannai/sangyoukatsuryokusaiseibu/syoukourouseika/koyosangyosinko/syoukoshinko/jibasangyou/bansyuori.html
Last verified: 2026.08.26