The one Meiji building in the compound
The detached wing, or hanareya, sits north-west of the main house at the Otoshi residence in Shinnobe, Befu. Together with the utensil storehouses and the retirement room it forms the back-garden cluster along the northern edge of the compound.
It differs from its neighbours in date. While the main house belongs to 1835 and most of the storehouses to the nineteenth-century Edo period, this wing is recorded as a work of the Meiji era. It is a two-storey building with an irimoya roof in sangawara pantile and sasarago-shitami, a board siding held by thin battens. The ground floor holds a three-mat room, a bath and a privy with a boarded entrance area, and it connects to the north corridor off the okunando, the inner back room of the main house.
Why it is registered
The hanareya was registered on 18 November 1999 as part of the nine-building Otoshi ensemble. Its role in the group is to show how the household's service functions, bathing, washing and private daily use, were arranged at the rear.
As the only Meiji structure among buildings otherwise rooted in the Edo period, it also records how the compound kept growing and adapting after the main house was built, without breaking the coherence of the whole.
What to look for
The sasarago board siding gives the wing a plainer, more utilitarian surface than the plastered storehouses beside it, a useful contrast when reading the north end of the compound. Its two storeys make it taller than the low retirement room and storehouses nearby.
The residence is private and not open for regular tours. From outside, the annex is best understood as part of the shaded rear range rather than as a display piece, which is exactly its character.
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Q&A
- What makes the detached wing unusual?
- It is the only Meiji-period building among the nine; the others are Edo-period.
- What is inside?
- A three-mat room, a bath and a privy on the ground floor, with a boarded entrance area.
- What is sasarago-shitami?
- A board siding held by thin vertical battens, giving a plain, practical exterior.
- Can it be visited?
- It stands in a private residence and is not open for regular visits.
Basic Information
| Name | Otoshi Family Residence Detached Wing (Otoshike Jutaku Hanareya) |
|---|---|
| Location | 881 Shinnobe, Befu-cho, Kakogawa City, Hyogo Prefecture |
| Category | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Registered | 18 November 1999 |
| Structure | Wooden, two-storey, sangawara-tiled irimoya roof, sasarago board siding; building area approx. 25 sq m; 1 building |
| Period | Meiji era, 19th century |
| Access | Part of a private residence; not open for regular visits |
References
- Kakogawa City — Otoshi Family Residence, nine Registered Tangible Cultural Properties
- https://www.city.kakogawa.lg.jp/soshikikarasagasu/kyouiku/kakuka/kyoikushidobu/bunkazai_cyosa/bunkazai/kunitourokukaisetu/kunitourokuootosikejuutaku.html
- Kakogawa City — List of designated and registered cultural properties
- https://www.city.kakogawa.lg.jp/soshikikarasagasu/kyouiku/kakuka/kyoikushidobu/bunkazai_cyosa/bunkazai/siteitourokubunkazaiitiran20230320.html
- Kakogawa City — Registered cultural properties, individual entries
- https://www.city.kakogawa.lg.jp/soshikikarasagasu/kyouiku/kakuka/kyoikushidobu/bunkazai_cyosa/bunkazai/kunitourokukaisetu/index.html
- Agency for Cultural Affairs — Cultural Properties
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/
Last verified: 2026.07.04