Registered Tangible Cultural Properties · Hyogo

Kajiwara Family Residence North Detached Parlor

Kajiwara Family Residence North Detached Parlor: A Taisho Guest Annex

Taisho-era guest annex north of the Kajiwara main house in Oshio, Himeji, with its own shikidai entrance, a mizuya and an eight-mat room with a round-window alcove.

Designation Registered Tangible Cultural Properties

Location Hyogo

About the Kajiwara Family Residence North Detached Parlor

The Kajiwara Family Residence North Detached Parlor (梶原家住宅北離座敷, Kajiwara-ke Jūtaku Kita-hanare-zashiki) is a Taisho-era (1912 to 1925) guest annex standing north of the main house on the Kajiwara estate in Oshio, Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2009.

A corridor links the North Detached Parlor to the north side of the main house. It is a single-storey timber building roofed with pantiles (sangawarabuki), with a building area of 45 square meters.

An Annex With Its Own Formal Entrance

The rooms of the Kajiwara Family Residence North Detached Parlor run in a single north-south line: a formal shikidai entrance, a two-mat room, a mizuya preparation room for tea, and an eight-mat parlor. Few detached parlors carry an entrance of this rank. The arrangement lets guests be shown to the parlor without passing through the main house.

The entrance opens on the west side through a pair of sliding doors that part in the middle, under a small eave in the yamato-buki style, with earthen walls. With the mizuya next door, the parlor is equipped for serving tea on its own.

The Eight-Mat Parlor

The main room of the North Detached Parlor centers on its alcove. A thick post of podocarpus (maki) frames the tokonoma, a round window pierces the alcove wall, and a flat shoin desk alcove stands beside it. Light from that round window falls into the back of the alcove, and it is the detail most worth imagining if you study photographs of the room.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the building as calm and refined, and registered it for its contribution to the historic landscape.

The Kajiwara Family Residence North Detached Parlor faces the rice storehouse across the forecourt. Himeji City notes that the storehouse gives the forecourt its shape by standing opposite the parlor, and the two buildings frame the estate's front garden from either side.

Seeing the North Detached Parlor

The Kajiwara Family Residence North Detached Parlor is part of a private home and its interior is not open to the public. It faces the forecourt, but the front gate and wall stand between that court and the street, and how much can be seen from the road has not been checked on site.

Please take photographs only from the public road. The Kajiwara Family Residence (Nishi-Kajiwara) page explains how to get there.

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Q&A

QWhen was the Kajiwara Family Residence North Detached Parlor built?: AIt dates from the Taisho era (1912 to 1925) and was registered in 2009.

QCan visitors enter the Kajiwara Family Residence North Detached Parlor?: ANo. It is part of a private residence and is closed to the public.

QWhat rooms does the Kajiwara Family Residence North Detached Parlor contain?: AA formal shikidai entrance, a two-mat room, a mizuya and an eight-mat parlor, arranged in a north-south line.

QWhat is special about the alcove in the Kajiwara Family Residence North Detached Parlor?: AThe tokonoma has a thick podocarpus post and a round window in its wall, with a flat shoin alcove beside it.

QHow does the Kajiwara Family Residence North Detached Parlor relate to the rice storehouse?: AThe two buildings face each other across the forecourt, enclosing the front garden of the estate.

Basic Information

Name	Kajiwara Family Residence North Detached Parlor
Location	457 Miyanomoto, Oshiocho, Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture
Designation	Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building)
Year Designated	2009 (registered)
Quantity	1 building
Dimensions	Building area 45 m²
Owner	Private owner
Public Access	Not open to the public (private home; exterior from the street)