Tatami rooms under a copper roof
The Former Uetake Shobei Family Residence Japanese-Style Building is a single-story timber building of 1937 at Dainichikubo in Edosaki, Inashiki City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and it became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2 October 2007 (Heisei 19). It stands immediately west of the western-style building and turns its front to the garden on the south side. The building area is 94 square meters, on a plan of 6 ken along the ridge by 5 ken across, one ken being roughly 1.8 meters.
The roof is where the eye starts. It is an Irimoya-zukuri hipped gable, sheathed not in tile but in copper, and its slope carries a slight convex swell that carpenters call mukuri. Tile would have been heavier and flatter in effect. Copper let the roofer hold that gentle curve, and it has since weathered to the dull green that now reads as the calm counterpart to the pale scored walls of the neighbouring western wing.
Inside there are three rooms: two of 10 Tatami mats and one of 6. A veranda corridor wraps the front and both sides, so the tatami rooms are reached through a layer of polished timber floor rather than opening directly onto the garden. It is an arrangement that slows a visitor down, which is the point of it.
Why the interior earned the registration
The Former Uetake Shobei Family Residence Japanese-Style Building carries registration number 08-0224 and joined the Registered Tangible Cultural Property list on the same day as the western-style building (08-0223) and the storehouse (08-0225), under the criterion that a building contributes to the historic landscape of Japan.
The official description is unusually interested in what is inside. It singles out the formal alcove fittings, the coffered ceiling with its raised cove, and stained glass set into the transoms, and concludes that the interior is elaborately worked. That is a judgment about craft rather than about silhouette, and it is the reason this building is listed rather than merely recorded.
Writing at the time of registration, the city of Inashiki set out what the principal Zashiki contains: a Tokonoma alcove with its flanking shelf recess, a built-in study bay, Nageshi tie-beams running the walls, the coffered ceiling, and the transoms. That is the full vocabulary of a formal reception room, executed in a house that also has fireplaces and a chimney. The city called the stained glass in the Ranma the detail most worth noticing, describing it as stained glass made in Japan rather than imported, which is what makes it a hybrid rather than an import.
What to look for at the Former Uetake Shobei Family Residence Japanese-Style Building
Ask to sit down in the main room, and then look up. A coffered ceiling of this kind lifts at its edges into a cove before meeting the wall, so the ceiling appears to float clear of the room. Count the coffers if you like. The point is the shadow line where the cove turns.
Then look at the transoms. Stained glass belongs to churches, to stair windows, to the vocabulary the western-style building next door is quoting. Here it has been fitted into the slot above the sliding doors where an openwork panel of carved cedar would normally go, and the light it drops onto the tatami changes colour through the afternoon. Nothing else in the estate states the collision of the two traditions so briefly.
Walk the veranda before you leave. It runs along the front and returns down both sides, and from it the garden reads as a composition rather than as a view through a frame. Look back at the roof from the far corner of the garden, where the swell in the copper is easiest to read against the sky. The storehouse joins this building at its northwest corner, and the connection to the west corridor is worth finding on your way round.
Visiting the Former Uetake Shobei Family Residence Japanese-Style Building
The Former Uetake Shobei Family Residence Japanese-Style Building is in private hands, listed by the Agency for Cultural Affairs as belonging to Mitomo Service Co., Ltd., and it does not keep regular opening hours. The estate, known as Dainichien, has been cared for with the involvement of a local preservation body, the NPO Inashiki Traditional Culture Preservation Society, whose telephone number the city of Inashiki gave as the contact point when the registration was announced. Visits are customarily arranged by calling ahead. Opening is irregular and the rooms are closed when the site is hired out or used for filming, so check before you travel, and treat interior access as something to confirm rather than assume.
Photography is at the manager's discretion, and the tatami rooms are the part of the estate where a request is most likely to need explaining. Raise it when you telephone. Bring socks: the veranda and the mat rooms are entered without shoes.
No railway line reaches Inashiki City. The usual route is the Joban Line to Tsuchiura, then the JR Bus Kanto Kasumigaura Line to Edosaki, about 45 minutes, and about 3 minutes on foot from the Edosaki-sakaue bus stop. Drivers leave the Ken-o Expressway at Inashiki Interchange and park inside the gate.
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Q&A
- Can the interior of the Former Uetake Shobei Family Residence Japanese-Style Building be seen?
- Only by prior arrangement. The building is privately owned and part of the Dainichien estate, which opens irregularly. Contact the local preservation society that manages the site before travelling, and confirm that the tatami rooms will be accessible on the day.
- What is the stained glass in the Former Uetake Shobei Family Residence Japanese-Style Building?
- Coloured glass panels set into the transoms above the sliding doors, in the position normally occupied by carved openwork. The city of Inashiki describes them as Japanese-made stained glass and treats them as the most notable feature of the interior.
- How many rooms does the Former Uetake Shobei Family Residence Japanese-Style Building have?
- Three: two rooms of 10 tatami mats and one of 6, with a veranda corridor running along the front and both sides. The building area is 94 square meters.
- When was the Former Uetake Shobei Family Residence Japanese-Style Building registered?
- On 2 October 2007, as registration number 08-0224, at the same time as the western-style building and the storehouse of the same residence. It was built in 1937.
- How do I reach the Former Uetake Shobei Family Residence Japanese-Style Building?
- There is no station in Inashiki City. Take the Joban Line to Tsuchiura, then the JR Bus Kanto Kasumigaura Line to Edosaki, about 45 minutes, and walk about 3 minutes from the Edosaki-sakaue bus stop. By car, use Inashiki Interchange on the Ken-o Expressway.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Uetake Shobei Family Residence Japanese-Style Building |
|---|---|
| Location | 2354 Dainichikubo, Edosaki, Inashiki City, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure), registration number 08-0224 |
| Year Designated | Registered on 2 October 2007 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 94 square meters; 6 ken along the ridge, 5 ken across; single story, copper-sheathed roof |
| Owner | Mitomo Service Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Not regularly open; viewing by prior arrangement with the manager |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Former Uetake Shobei Family Residence Japanese-Style Building
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00006436
- Cultural Heritage Online: Former Uetake Shobei Family Residence Japanese-Style Building
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/197429
- Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education, Cultural Properties of Ibaraki: Former Uetake Shobei Family Residence, Western-Style Building and two others
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-registered-6077/
- City of Inashiki, Koho Inashiki, August 2007 issue (No. 29)
- https://www.city.inashiki.lg.jp/data/doc/1254669620_doc_2.pdf
- City of Inashiki: Transport access
- https://www.city.inashiki.lg.jp/page/page000119.html
Last verified: 2026.09.06