Former Onose Family Residence

A Merchant's Shop and House on the Ryugasaki Highway

The Former Onose Family Residence (旧小野瀬家住宅, Kyu Onose-ke Jutaku) is a merchant's premises facing the old highway in Kamicho, Ryugasaki City, Ibaraki Prefecture, whose early Taisho shop and early Meiji main house were registered in 2004 as two Registered Tangible Cultural Properties.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs registered both as models of design. Ryugasaki City lists Toyo Fudosan as manager.

Ryugasaki City presents the shop and main house together as a single set.

The Shop and the Main House

According to the Agency, the shop faces south onto the Kamicho highway, a two-storey townhouse five bays by three, gabled and pantiled and entered on the long side, with a 5-shaku lean-to at the front. Its robust framing is distinctive: a 1.2-shaku-square central post in the ground-floor shop, a joist ceiling of timbers 3 shaku deep and 1 shaku wide, and curved tie beams under the lean-to. It has a building area of 210 square metres.

The main house stands north of the entrance at the back of the shop, a single-storey timber building running north to south, with a half-hipped pantiled roof. Three rooms of six, six and eight mats run north to south, with an alcove and shelves on the west of the eight-mat room, verandas on the east and north, and a privy at the northwest corner. It has a building area of 65 square metres.

Two Contrasting Buildings

The Agency notes that, compared with the robust early Taisho shop, the main house is low and neatly proportioned.

A heavily framed shop on the street and a quiet early Meiji home behind it survive together, conveying the layout of a town merchant's premises.

Visiting the Former Onose Family Residence

No official visitor information could be found. The exterior can be seen from the old highway.

Enquiries: Ryugasaki City culture and lifelong learning section, 0297-64-1111.