Ushioda Family Villa: A Sukiya-Style Retreat Behind the Merchant's Shop
Behind the black-plastered storehouses that the Ushioda family showed to the street lies a very different building. On the western side of the grounds, linked to the shop by a covered corridor, stands a wooden two-storey villa wrapped on its outer sides by a continuous veranda. This is the bessO, the detached hanare of the Tsuruya house, and it was built for something the shopfront never had to do: to receive guests in style.
The Ushioda made their fortune in Makabe as kimono and dry-goods merchants, in the old town below the north face of Mt. Tsukuba. Where their storehouses were designed for fire resistance and commerce, the villa was designed for grace. It dates to the early Meiji years, and its light wooden frame, hipped pantile roof and open plan set it apart at once from the heavy earthen storehouses that share the site.
The finish is where the building speaks most clearly. Good timber was chosen throughout, and the interior is worked in a careful sukiya manner, the refined teahouse-derived style favoured for cultivated reception rooms. A tokonoma alcove, staggered display shelves and a built-in tsuke-shoin writing bay give the principal room the vocabulary of formal hospitality, expressed with restraint rather than display.
Why the Building Is Registered
The villa was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in November 1999 under registration number 08-0020, the last of the four Ushioda buildings to be listed. Among them it holds a special place, because it shows a provincial merchant family's idea of modern refinement rather than the commercial face they turned to the public.
According to the Ibaraki prefectural record, the villa is said to have served in the Meiji period as lodging for members of the imperial family, a tradition that speaks to the standing of the house even if the details are held lightly. As a piece of architecture it is valued as a clear provincial example of a modern reception space: a wooden building of about 98 square metres that gathers veranda, open plan and sukiya detailing into a coherent setting for entertaining guests, distinct in both material and purpose from the storehouses beside it.
What to Look For on a Visit
Notice the shift in mood as you move from the storehouses toward the villa. The covered corridor that ties the hanare to the shop is itself worth pausing over, a hinge between the world of trade and the world of hospitality. Where the storehouses close themselves off with thick walls, the villa opens outward, its veranda dissolving the line between room and garden.
Inside, look at the principal room in detail. The proportions of the tokonoma, the rhythm of the display shelves and the light admitted through the shoin bay were all calculated to put a guest at ease while quietly signalling the family's cultivation. The quality of the timber repays close attention, chosen and finished with a care that the utilitarian storehouses did not require. Seen together with the shop, wing and side storehouse, the villa completes the picture of a great merchant estate that knew how to sell, how to store and how to receive.
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Q&A
- What is the difference between the villa and the storehouses?
- The storehouses are heavy earthen-walled buildings for commerce and storage, while the villa is a light wooden structure built for receiving guests, finished in a refined sukiya style with a surrounding veranda.
- What does sukiya style mean?
- It is a refined residential style derived from the teahouse, marked by restraint, natural materials and careful proportion. Here it shapes the tokonoma alcove, display shelves and shoin writing bay of the main room.
- Did the imperial family really stay here?
- The prefectural record notes that the villa is said to have been used as lodging for members of the imperial family during the Meiji period, a tradition that reflects the standing of the Ushioda house.
- How is the villa connected to the rest of the estate?
- It stands on the western side of the grounds and is joined to the shop storehouse by a covered corridor, so guests could pass between the commercial front and the private reception space under cover.
- When was it built?
- It dates to the early Meiji years, making it older than the late-Meiji shop and wing storehouses that face the street.
Basic Information
| Name | Ushioda Family Villa, detached (Ushioda-ke jūtaku bessō, hanare) |
|---|---|
| Location | 189 Makabe, Makabe-machi, Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), reg. no. 08-0020 |
| Registered | 18 November 1999 |
| Built | Early Meiji period (roughly 1868–1911) |
| Structure | Two-storey wooden construction, hipped pantile roof, floor area approx. 98 m², 1 building |
| Setting | West of the shop, joined to it by a covered corridor, within the Makabe preservation district |
References
- Cultural Heritage Online — Ushioda Family Villa (detached)
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/114284
- Agency for Cultural Affairs National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00001404
- Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education — Ushioda Family Residence Misegura and three others
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-registered-6510/
Last verified: 2026.07.06