Yano Family Residence Barn

About the Yano Family Residence Barn

The Yano Family Residence Barn (箟家住宅納屋, Yano-ke Jūtaku Naya) is a single-storey wooden outbuilding of the late Meiji era (1898 to 1912) in Gogazuka 3-chome, Itami City, Hyogo Prefecture, and was entered on the register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on March 6, 2024. It runs north to south along the east edge of the estate and has a building area of 99 square meters, second only to the main house.

The roof is a pantiled gable, and the entrances are on the long side, the arrangement called hirairi. Under that single roof are four rooms. Listed north to south, they are a pickling shed, a storage barn, a goat pen and a toilet.

Pickling vegetables, stowing tools and harvests, keeping livestock, relieving oneself: the everyday business that kept a rural household going was lined up in one building along the east boundary.

Why It Was Registered

The Yano Family Residence Barn was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape of the nation. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as the barn that shapes the east side of the estate.

A long, narrow building of 99 square meters takes up most of the east edge, closing that side of the property with a continuous wall. At the northeast corner the northeast wall links it to the charcoal barn, and to the south the rice storehouse holds the corner. The barn is the long stretch of perimeter between the north row and the southeast storehouse.

The list of rooms is also a small social document. The goat pen is the only space among all ten registered structures made for living animals, and its name records that goats were kept inside the estate. A late Meiji outbuilding that combined pickles, livestock and a privy is a reminder that Gogazuka, now a suburb of Itami, was a farming village not long ago.

What to Look For

Posts every half ken, beams every ken

The frame of the Yano Barn is a steady repetition of standard measures. Along the side walls, posts stand every half ken, about 0.9 meters, and beams span the building every full ken, about 1.8 meters. That gives one beam for every two posts, and the close row of posts sets a rhythm along the long elevation.

Projecting beams and a work apron

On the west side, which faces into the estate, the beam ends are pushed well out beyond the posts and carry an outer eave beam. This degeta construction, related to the degeta-zukuri used on townhouses, allows a deep overhang. Beneath it runs an inubashiri, a narrow paved strip where work could go on out of the rain. Jobs such as packing pickle tubs or mending tools were most likely done here.

Two faces, two roles

The Agency mentions the projecting beams and the work apron only on the west side. The east side, on the edge of the property, belongs to the enclosure of the estate. Inside, the barn offers sheltered working space; outside, it marks the boundary. One building plays two different roles front and back.

Visiting

The Yano Family Residence Barn stands on private land and its interior is closed (checked September 26, 2026). The west side with the deep eaves faces into the estate and cannot be seen from outside.

If you look from outside, the east side is the one to look for. The Agency's photograph was taken from the east and shows the long single-storey building marking the east edge. The northeast wall continues to the north and the rice storehouse to the south, so the perimeter reads without a break. How much of it is visible from the road is best checked on site.

No sign prohibits photography. This is part of a family home, so please keep your stop short.