Motooka Family Residence

About the Motooka Family Residence

The Motooka Family Residence (本岡家住宅, Motooka-ke Jūtaku) is a Meiji-period household compound in Motomachi 2-chome, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, whose four structures, the main house, the west storehouse, the east storehouse, and an inner gate with a roofed earthen wall, became Registered Tangible Cultural Properties together on March 27, 2006. All four stand on the same plot at 2-7-7 Motomachi, and they sit one after another in Kanazawa City's list of nationally registered properties.

The buildings span a little over sixty years. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs database, the oldest is the west storehouse of 1872. The main house was built in 1882 and moved in 1902, and the inner gate and wall date from around the same year. The east storehouse followed in 1934, early in the Shōwa era.

Kanazawa City has its own scheme for protecting the outward appearance of historic buildings, set up in 1982 under its landscape ordinance. The Motooka Family Residence was added to that list on November 21, 2005, a few months before the national registration.

A different house with the same name, an Edo-period farmhouse, stands in Kakogawa City, Hyōgo Prefecture. This page covers the one in Motomachi, Kanazawa.

How the Plot Is Laid Out

Read together, the Agency's four descriptions give a fairly clear picture of the Motooka Family Residence.

• The main house stands toward the west side of the plot. It is a large two-storey timber house with a footprint of 353 square meters, and everything else is arranged around it.
• The west storehouse sits close to the southern boundary, just south of the main house. Its door faces the house, and a corridor links the two.
• The east storehouse is also near the southern boundary. Its windows look toward the main house, and it helps enclose the forecourt in front of it.
• The inner gate and wall adjoin the east end of the main house's north side, dividing the garden north of the house from the open space in front.

The result is a forecourt in front of the main house, edged on the south by two earthen storehouses, with a private garden screened off to the north. Because the storehouses are pushed toward the boundary, they also shape what passers-by see, and the Agency credits the west storehouse with forming the landscape of both the plot and the street.

Four Registrations in One Round

The four structures of the Motooka Family Residence were registered on March 27, 2006, in the 50th round of registrations, and officially announced on April 12 of that year. Their registration numbers run in sequence: 17-0148 for the main house, 17-0149 for the east storehouse, 17-0150 for the west storehouse, and 17-0151 for the inner gate and wall.

The main house was registered as a model of form and design, recognised for the quality of its materials, its scale, and its workmanship. The other three were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape, as pieces that make up the setting of the house.

The Agency's database leaves the owner field blank. Kanazawa City lists the owner as a private individual.

Visiting the Motooka Family Residence

The Motooka Family Residence is a private home, and no public or special opening could be found. Assume the grounds and the interiors are closed, and enjoy the buildings from outside. If you take photographs, do so from the public road and take care not to intrude on the household or block the street.

The nearest bus stop is Kobashimachi, served by Hokuriku Railroad buses among others, about 350 meters or a five-minute walk away. From the east exit of Kanazawa Station it is roughly 2 kilometers on foot, or about 25 minutes.