North Wall and Gate of the Detached Quarters, Hirao Family Residence
The Hirao Family Residence in the Morio district of Toyooka reads as a record of successive generations. A family of great village headmen and leading Tajima landowners, the Hirao raised their main house in 1896 and set older storehouses and quarters around it, adding walls, gates and outbuildings from the Edo period through the early Showa era across an estate of about 4,000 square metres.
The Structure Itself
Closing off the north side of the inner garden, this board fence runs about 25 metres, with a gate set near its west end. It matches the east wall of the same garden in ridge height, but is built differently below: where the east wall stands on a stone retaining base, this one sets its cut-stone footing and sill directly on the ground.
Posts rise at 1.3-metre intervals, each carrying a projecting purlin on its bracket arm beneath the pantiles, and the wall is faced in vertical boarding. The gate is a bracket gate under a gabled pantile roof, 1.8 metres wide. Together with the east wall, it completes the calm rectangle of enclosure that gives the inner garden its shape.
Why It Was Registered
The estate was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2008, recognising how completely the framework of a great landowner's compound, its main house, quarters, storehouses, walls and waterworks, survives here as a single ensemble. Each registered element earns its place less as a solitary monument than as one part of that larger, coherent whole.
Seeing It Today
The Hirao Family Residence remains a private home and is, as a rule, not open to the public. Visitors should not expect interior access, and the family's privacy asks for a respectful distance. The exterior and its river setting can be appreciated from the public road nearby, and travellers to this corner of Tajima can pair a passing look with the region's more accessible sights: the willow-lined hot-spring town of Kinosaki Onsen, the old castle town of Izushi with its soba and clock tower, and the columnar basalt cliffs of Genbudo Park along the Maruyama River.
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Q&A
- Can I go inside the Hirao Family Residence?
- No. The residence is privately owned and generally closed to the public. You can view its exterior and river setting from the adjacent public road, but please respect the residents' privacy.
- How does this wall differ from the garden's east wall?
- Both share the same ridge height and frame the inner garden, but the east wall stands on a stone retaining base while this north wall sets its footing straight onto the ground. The pair completes the garden's enclosure.
- How old is this part of the estate?
- It dates to the early Showa period (1926–1988). The estate as a whole was built up across generations, from Edo-period storehouses through the 1896 main house to early-Showa additions, so its elements span more than a century.
- What else can I see nearby?
- Toyooka offers Kinosaki Onsen for its hot springs, the castle town of Izushi for soba and historic streets, and Genbudo Park for its dramatic columnar basalt, all within easy reach of the Morio district.
Basic Information
| Name | North Wall and Gate of the Detached Quarters, Hirao Family Residence (平尾家住宅離れ北塀及び門) |
|---|---|
| Location | 958 Ando, Morio, Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Registered | 7 March 2008 (gazetted 19 March 2008) |
| Count | 1棟 |
| Structure | North wall: timber, tiled, 25 m; gate: timber, tiled, 1.8 m wide |
| Period | early Showa period (1926–1988) |
| Ownership / Access | Privately owned; not open to the public |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs — 平尾家住宅離れ北塀及び門
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00006919
- Cultural Heritage Online — Main House, Hirao Family Residence
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/186783
- The Tajima (Tajima Encyclopedia) — Hirao Family Residence
- https://the-tajima.com/spot/393/
Last verified: 2026.07.02