What Is the Former Abe Family Residence Main House?
The Former Abe Family Residence Main House (旧安倍家住宅主屋, Kyū Abe-ke Jūtaku Omoya) is a modern Japanese-style house on Hidaka-kōji in Mizusawa, Oshu City, Iwate Prefecture, built in the early Meiji era (1868 to 1882), extended in the late Taishō era and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 29 June 2022.
It is a 2-storey timber building with a sheet-metal roof and a building area of 191 square meters, made up of a 2-storey entrance wing and a single-storey reception wing. Of the five registered buildings on the Abe estate, it is the only one that people lived in. What sets the Abe main house apart is the way it was framed with carpentry skills handed down from the Edo period, yet filled room by room with the tastes of a new age.
Registered as a Model of Design
The Former Abe Family Residence Main House is Registered Tangible Cultural Property number 03-0114. The four other buildings on the estate were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape, but the main house was registered under a different criterion, as a model of design.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes a 2-storey entrance wing with a hipped Yosemune-zukuri roof and, stepped back to the west in echelon, a single-storey reception wing under a hip-and-gable Irimoya-zukuri roof. From the entrance, the formal rooms run northwest in an L, with a veranda wrapping around them on the side facing the garden to the northeast. Above the entrance is an upstairs room with a kasa-tenjō, an "umbrella" ceiling, which the agency singles out for its sukiya-style craftsmanship.
The Oshu City Board of Education points to that upstairs room, and to sliding-door paintings by a Meiji-era local artist, as touches no samurai house of the Edo period would have had. The Abe main house kept the formal approach of a retainer's residence while its interiors moved toward a modern home, and that combination is why it matters.
What to Look For at the Former Abe Family Residence Main House
Two Roofs Seen from the Garden
From the garden, the contrast between the roofs of the Abe main house is easy to read. The 2-storey part has a light hipped roof, while the single-storey reception wing carries a hip-and-gable roof of the kind found on temples and shrines. The city's guide sheet calls the pairing a deliberate contrast. Look closely and you will find fine carving not only in the gable ornaments but even on the Todobukuro, the boxes that hold the storm shutters.
The Kamizashiki
The kamizashiki, the principal reception room facing the garden, is the most formal space in the Former Abe Family Residence Main House. Its ceiling cornice runs in a double line. The Tokonoma alcove combines a board of richly figured zelkova, a Tokobashira post made from a log with its cedar bark left on, and a sand-plaster wall mixed with crushed shell. The Ranma transom between this room and the next is filled with delicate Kumiko latticework.
The Entrance and Satō Kōun's Paintings
Instead of the formal Shikidai step of a samurai house, the Abe main house has a modern inner entrance. The tiles laid in its earthen-floored hall are thought to date from the Taishō years, when the family turned part of the house into a medical clinic.
The paintings on the sliding doors of the entrance room carry the seal of Satō Kōun (1854 to 1920). Kōun was a son of Satō Saemon, a retainer of the Date lords of Mizusawa, and he lived here on Hidaka-kōji. The ceiling of the same room is laid in an arrow-feather herringbone of boards, so it is worth looking up as well as around.
The Chanoma
In the chanoma, the family sitting room, a chest of drawers and a household shrine shelf are built into the wall, both decorated with metal fittings. To one side is a flat shoin window bay, and with a cedar-bark log used for the middle rail, the everyday room is dressed up almost like a formal one, complete with an alcove.
The Upstairs Room
Upstairs in the entrance wing, the mood changes completely from the kamizashiki below. The ceiling rises to a peak in the middle; the Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it an umbrella ceiling, while the city's guide sheet calls it a boat-bottom ceiling. Large flakes of shell are scattered through the sand-plaster walls, and the alcove is built from freely combined curved timbers. It is here that the playful spirit of Sukiya-zukuri shows most clearly in the Former Abe Family Residence Main House.
Visiting the Former Abe Family Residence Main House
You can see the interior of the Former Abe Family Residence Main House on a visit booked through Oshu City. The city's guide sheet highlights the kamizashiki, the chanoma, the entrance rooms and the upstairs room, but ask when you book which rooms will be shown and whether you can go upstairs.
For the exterior, stand in the garden on the north side and face south. The 2-storey hipped block rises on your left and the low hip-and-gable reception wing spreads out on your right, so the stepped layout and the two roof forms appear in a single view. Directions and the visiting season for the whole estate are on the Former Abe Family Residence page.
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Q&A
- When was the Former Abe Family Residence Main House built?
- The national database dates it to the early Meiji era (1868 to 1882), with an extension in the late Taishō era. The Abe family is thought to have settled on the site in 1846, and the main house replaced the earlier home in the early Meiji years.
- Why is the Former Abe Family Residence Main House a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered on 29 June 2022 as a model of design, for its stepped plan pairing a hipped entrance wing with a hip-and-gable reception wing, and for its sukiya-style upstairs room.
- Who painted the sliding doors in the Former Abe Family Residence Main House?
- The paintings in the entrance room bear the seal of Satō Kōun (1854 to 1920), a Mizusawa artist and the son of a Date retainer, who lived on the same lane.
- What is the ceiling like in the upstairs room of the Former Abe Family Residence Main House?
- It rises to a peak in the center. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it an umbrella ceiling and Oshu City calls it a boat-bottom ceiling. The room also has shell-flecked sand walls and an alcove of curved timbers.
- Can I go inside the Former Abe Family Residence Main House?
- Yes, by reservation with Oshu City. Visits run on weekdays from 20 March to 15 November, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and admission is free. Book through the Historical Heritage Division of the Oshu City Board of Education.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Abe Family Residence Main House (旧安倍家住宅主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 21 Hidakakoji, Mizusawa, Oshu City, Iwate Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building), Registration No. 03-0114 |
| Year Designated | Registered 29 June 2022 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 2-storey timber building, sheet-metal roof, building area 191 square meters |
| Owner | Oshu City |
| Public Access | Open by reservation (weekdays, 20 March to 15 November, free) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: 旧安倍家住宅主屋 (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00014220
- Guide sheet: Former Abe Family Residence, Modern Japanese-Style Architecture (Oshu City Board of Education, in Japanese)
- https://www.city.oshu.iwate.jp/material/files/group/79/54753_182573_misc.pdf
- Former Abe Family Residence (Oshu City official website, in Japanese)
- https://www.city.oshu.iwate.jp/kanko/osusume/4/3/889.html
Last verified: 2026.09.28
