A headman's house at the centre of the compound
The main house of the Otoshi family residence stands in the middle of a walled compound of about 900 tsubo (roughly 2,970 square metres) in Shinnobe, Befu, near the mouth of the Kakogawa River in Kakogawa City, Hyogo. The Otoshi served as oojoya, the great headman who oversaw a group of villages along the lower river on behalf of the domain, and the scale of the house reflects that office.
Records place its construction in 1835 (Tempo 6). The building is a single storey with a low tsushi storage half-story, covered by a hip-and-gable roof in hongawara, the formal pan-and-cover tiling reserved for buildings of standing. Its footprint of 455 square metres is organised around an earthen-floored entrance and eight rooms, with wings projecting to the south and north-west.
Why it is registered
The main house is one of nine Otoshi buildings entered together in the national register of tangible cultural properties on 18 November 1999. Registration, a lighter form of protection than designation, is granted to structures that help shape the historic landscape and would be difficult to reproduce.
What gives the house its value is less any single feature than its survival as the core of a complete headman's establishment. Around it stand storehouses, a gate range, a detached bath wing, a retirement room and a tea room, and the main house is the piece that ties the plan together and shows the rank of the family through its size and finish.
What to look for
The clearest sign of status is the joodan-no-ma, a raised guest room whose detailing was meant to receive officials and mark the difference between host and visitor. Reading the plan from the earthen entrance inward, the working and formal parts of the house separate cleanly.
The residence is privately owned and is not open for regular visits, but the roofline and the tiled walls read well from the surrounding lanes, especially where the main roof rises above the gate range along the south-east street.
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Q&A
- When was the main house built?
- Records date it to 1835 (Tempo 6), in the late Edo period.
- How large is it?
- It has a building area of about 455 square metres, a single storey with a low tsushi storage half-story.
- Why does it matter?
- It is the core of a rare, largely intact great-headman compound; nine of its buildings were registered together in 1999.
- Can I go inside?
- It is a private residence and is not open for regular tours; the exterior can be seen from the surrounding streets.
Basic Information
| Name | Otoshi Family Residence Main House (Otoshike Jutaku Shuoku) |
|---|---|
| Location | 881 Shinnobe, Befu-cho, Kakogawa City, Hyogo Prefecture |
| Category | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Registered | 18 November 1999 |
| Structure | Wooden, one storey with tsushi half-story, tiled hip-and-gable roof; building area approx. 455 sq m; 1 building |
| Period | Edo period, 1835 (Tempo 6) |
| Access | Private residence; exterior viewable from surrounding streets |
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