Registered Tangible Cultural Properties · Hyogo

Kawanishi City Local Museum (Former Hirayasu Family Residence Entrance Wing)

Hirayasu Entrance Wing: Where a Taisho Household Received Guests

The 1919 entrance wing of the Hirayasu residence at the Kawanishi City Local Museum, with an earthen passage and reception rooms set apart from the main house.

Designation Registered Tangible Cultural Properties

Location Hyogo

About the Former Hirayasu Family Residence Entrance Wing

The Kawanishi City Local Museum (Former Hirayasu Family Residence Entrance Wing) (川西市郷土館（旧平安家住宅玄関）) is a single-storey timber building of 1918 to 1919 in Gezaicho, Kawanishi City, Hyogo Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on May 7, 1997. Standing against the south face of the main house, it brings together the front entrance and the rooms where guests were received.

It has a tiled roof and a building area of 41 m². The roof is hipped-and-gabled, or irimoya, with the entrance on the long side (Hirairi) and eaves canopies on all four sides. That a wing attached to the house was registered as a building in its own right says much about its role.

An Earthen Passage and an Inner Door

The plan of the Former Hirayasu Family Residence Entrance Wing divides cleanly from east to west. At the east end is an earthen-floored Doma that doubles as a passage for visitors, and behind it lies the inner entrance used by the family.

To the west are a reception room and an anteroom. Guests could be seated just inside the door and their business done without ever being taken into the living quarters of the main house.

The entrance gate adjoins the east side, and its right-hand wing wall turns a corner to join the entrance wing, so anyone passing through the gate is led straight into the earthen passage.

Separating Guests from Family Life

The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out the Hirayasu entrance wing as a fine Taisho-era example of a modern idea: reception rooms split off from the main house. Where the main house keeps a regional farmhouse plan, the entrance wing is the part that gives shape to a newer way of living.

According to Kawanishi City, the reception room now serves as the museum office, and metal reinforcement at the timber joints points to modern building methods as well. In a traditional Japanese timber building that use of ironwork is easy to miss from outside.

Why It Was Registered

The Former Hirayasu Family Residence Entrance Wing was registered as a structure that serves as a model of design, under number 28-0006, on May 7, 1997, half a year after the main house and together with 13 other Hirayasu structures.

The value lies in the arrangement itself: a modern reception wing placed in front of a traditional house, showing how a Taisho-era household drew the line between daily life and receiving visitors.

Visiting the Former Hirayasu Family Residence Entrance Wing

For visitors to the Kawanishi City Local Museum, the Former Hirayasu Family Residence Entrance Wing is the first building you step into on the Hirayasu side. Because the western reception room is now the office, you cannot wander through that room (checked October 2026).

The hipped-and-gabled roof and its surrounding eaves are best taken in from just outside the entrance gate. Ask at reception about photography. Opening days, admission and directions are on the Kawanishi City Local Museum page.

📍 Plan Your Visit to Hyogo: Find tours, activities & transport passes near Kawanishi City Local Museum (Former Hirayasu Family Residence Entrance Wing); [ Himeji Castle & Kobe Night View Cruise ]

Q&A

QWhere does the Former Hirayasu Family Residence Entrance Wing stand?: AAgainst the south face of the main house, with the entrance gate adjoining it on the east.

QHow is the Former Hirayasu Family Residence Entrance Wing laid out inside?: AAn earthen passage at the east end with the inner entrance behind it, and a reception room and anteroom to the west.

QWhy is the Former Hirayasu Family Residence Entrance Wing considered important?: AIt is a fine Taisho-era example of reception rooms separated from the main house, a modern idea in Japanese domestic architecture.

QWhen was the Former Hirayasu Family Residence Entrance Wing registered?: AOn May 7, 1997, under registration number 28-0006.

QCan I see the reception room of the Former Hirayasu Family Residence Entrance Wing?: AThe reception room is now the museum office, so it cannot be toured freely (checked October 2026).

Basic Information

Name	Kawanishi City Local Museum (Former Hirayasu Family Residence Entrance Wing)
Location	4-1 Gezaicho, Kawanishi City, Hyogo Prefecture
Designation	Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure)
Year Designated	1997 (registered)
Quantity	1 building
Dimensions	Building area 41 m² (single-storey timber, tiled roof)
Owner	Kawanishi City
Public Access	Open (Kawanishi City Local Museum, admission 300 yen)