A mid-Meiji thatched house on a headman's plot
Ozawa Family Residence Main House (小澤家住宅主屋, Ozawa-ke Jūtaku Omoya) is a farmhouse of the mid-Meiji period in Ōya, Miho Village, Ibaraki Prefecture, entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2009. It sits at the back of the plot with its ridge running north to south, under a broad Yosemune-zukuri roof of Kayabuki thatch covering a building area of 168 square meters.
The Ozawa family held the post of nanushi, headman of the old village of Ōya, in the Edo period. That office left its mark on the plan. At the north end of the east elevation a Shikidai porch projects under a small Irimoya-zukuri gable, 2 ken wide, about 3.6 meters. A shikidai was the entrance used for official business, and ordinary farmhouses of the day did not have one.
Timber, one storey, thatch. The specification reads plainly enough. What the specification does not convey is the proportion: the roof takes up so much of the elevation that the wall beneath it looks like a base course.
Why this house went on the national register
Ozawa Family Residence Main House carries registration number 08-0230 and was registered on January 8, 2009, under the criterion for works that serve as a model of design and craftsmanship. The rice storehouse and the front gate on the same plot were registered the same day under a different criterion, the one for buildings that contribute to the historic landscape. The house, in other words, was judged on how it was built rather than only on how it sits in the view.
Registration is not the same instrument as designation. A Registered Tangible Cultural Property stays in ordinary use and its owner works under a notification system rather than a permission system, which is why a building of this kind can still be someone's home.
Thatched houses were once common across Miho Village. The village cultural properties centre records that Ozawa Family Residence Main House is now the only one there that keeps the form it had when it was built.
The shikidai porch, the reception rooms, and a roof rebuilt in winter
The shikidai at Ozawa Family Residence Main House is built in degeta fashion, with the purlin carried out beyond the wall plane on projecting beam ends, and its rafters fan outward from the corner instead of running parallel. Behind it the rooms open in sequence: a tsugi-no-ma, then the Zashiki with its full set of formal fittings, a Tokonoma alcove, staggered chigaidana shelves, and a Tsukeshoin writing bay at the window. The Ranma transoms are cut finely for a farmhouse, and some of the fusuma sliding panels are faced with silver leaf.
The roof was worked on recently. Between December 2023 and February 2024 the north and west slopes, the shaded sides where the thatch had decayed badly, were stripped and relaid, with part of the cost met by a regional culture grant from the East Japan Railway Culture Foundation. Photographs taken before the work show saplings growing out of the north slope and beetle larvae in thatch that had turned to soil.
Look at the eaves and the courses are visible as stripes. Rice straw, shimagaya grass and cedar bark were layered into the eaves build-up, with hard yoshi reed set at the dripline where rainwater runs off. Southern Ibaraki thatchers call the striped result tōshi-yane, sometimes Tsukuba-ryū.
Visiting: a lived-in house that is closed to the public
Ozawa Family Residence Main House is not open to visitors. The buildings stand on private land and the owner lives there, so Miho Village states plainly that the property cannot normally be viewed. There is no interior access, no admission fee and no visitor entrance, and the grounds may not be entered.
From the public road the thatched ridge is visible above the trees and the gate can be seen from a distance. No photography rules have been published because there is no public access; treat the site as you would any private home and keep cameras off the residents and the interior of the plot. Viewing has occasionally been arranged around conservation work, when schoolchildren from the village were shown the roof during the rethatching, so anyone with a research interest should ask the Miho Village Cultural Properties Center, the Rikuhira Institute, on 029-886-0291.
Getting to Ōya takes some planning, since Miho Village has no railway station. The nearest is Tsuchiura on the JR Jōban Line; from the west exit, JR Bus Kantō's Kasumigaura line toward Edosaki reaches the Ōya stop in about 35 minutes. Drivers should note there is no parking provided for this address.
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Q&A
- Can I go inside Ozawa Family Residence Main House?
- No. It is a private residence still occupied by the owner, and Miho Village advises that it cannot normally be viewed. There is no admission and the grounds are closed.
- When was Ozawa Family Residence Main House built and how large is it?
- It dates from the middle of the Meiji era. It is a single-storey timber house with a thatched hipped roof and a building area of 168 square meters.
- When was the thatch on Ozawa Family Residence Main House last replaced?
- The north and west slopes were relaid between December 2023 and February 2024, with grant support from the East Japan Railway Culture Foundation. The rest of the roof was left for a future campaign.
- What is the shikidai entrance at the Ozawa house, and why does it matter?
- It is a raised formal porch used for official callers rather than family traffic. Ordinary farmhouses were not permitted such an entrance, so its presence reflects the family's role as village headman.
- How do I reach Ōya in Miho Village, where the Ozawa house stands?
- Take the JR Jōban Line to Tsuchiura Station, then the JR Bus Kantō Kasumigaura line bound for Edosaki from the west exit, and get off at Ōya after about 35 minutes.
Basic Information
| Name | Ozawa Family Residence Main House (小澤家住宅主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | Ōya, Miho Village, Inashiki District, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structures) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2009 (Heisei 21) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 168 square meters; single-storey timber structure, thatched hipped roof |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | Not open to the public; occupied as a private home, grounds closed to visitors |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Ozawa Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00007450
- Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education, Cultural Properties of Ibaraki: Ozawa Family Residence Main House and two other structures
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-registered-6066/
- Miho Village, Introduction to Cultural Properties
- https://www.vill.miho.lg.jp/kankou-event/minohobunkazai/bunkazai-syoukai/page000462.html
- Miho Village Cultural Properties Center, OKADAIRA No. 117 (record of the rethatching)
- https://www.vill.miho.lg.jp/data/doc/1709111855_doc_1_0.pdf
- Miho Village, Access to Miho Village
- https://www.vill.miho.lg.jp/page/page000265.html
Last verified: 2026.09.06