What Is the Former Kanno Family Residence Annex?
The Former Kanno Family Residence Annex (旧菅野家住宅離れ, Kyū Kanno-ke Jūtaku Hanare) is a 2-storey timber building of 1910 in Setamai, Sumita Town, Iwate Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2 May 2017. It adjoins the east side of the Kanno main house, its ridge running east to west.
It has a tiled Irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable roof and a building area of 52 square metres, and it was altered around 1945 and again in 2016. It was not built for people to live in: the annex began as a building for raising silkworms.
Why the Annex Was Registered
The annex was registered, as number 03-0093, for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs picks out two points about the Former Kanno Family Residence Annex: its construction date is firmly known, and it records how the use of the site changed over time.
A sericulture building later became a wing with formal reception rooms. Alongside the street-front main house and the storehouses at the back, a building that served the cocoon trade was folded into the household, and that shift is what the annex documents.
One caution on the date. The Agency database gives the era-name year as Meiji 43, but its Western-calendar field reads 1990. Meiji 43 corresponds to 1910, and the 1990 entry appears to be a data-entry error.
What to Look for at the Kanno Annex
The first thing to check is how low the ground floor is. The Agency notes that the ground-floor storey height is kept low and that the ceiling is a neda-tenjō, a joist ceiling, in which the joists carrying the upper floorboards are simply left exposed rather than boarded over. For a workroom lined with silkworm trays, nothing more was needed.
The two floors repeat the same plan. Each has an eight-mat Zashiki reception room beside a six-mat room, and an Uchien, an interior veranda, runs along the south side and turns the corner onto the east side in a Kaneore right angle, so on each floor the veranda wraps two sides.
A low working floor below, the same pair of rooms stacked above it: comparing the two levels is the quickest way to read how the Former Kanno Family Residence Annex started life as a place of work.
Visiting the Former Kanno Family Residence Annex
The annex is part of the Machiya Setamai-eki building, continuing east from the main house. Neither the town nor the facility says what its rooms are used for or when visitors can enter them, so ask at reception on an opening day if you want to see inside.
The town's information says nothing about photography either, so check that at the same time. Opening hours and directions are on the Former Kanno Family Residence page.
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Q&A
- When was the Former Kanno Family Residence Annex built?
- In 1910. It was altered around 1945 and in 2016, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2 May 2017.
- What was the Former Kanno Family Residence Annex originally used for?
- Raising silkworms. The low ground floor and its exposed joist ceiling survive from that use.
- What is the floor plan of the Former Kanno Family Residence Annex?
- Both floors have an eight-mat reception room and a six-mat room side by side, with an interior veranda turning from the south side to the east.
- Why do some records date the Former Kanno Family Residence Annex to 1990?
- The Western-calendar field in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database reads 1990. Its era-name field says Meiji 43, which is 1910, so the 1990 entry appears to be an input error.
- Can visitors go inside the Former Kanno Family Residence Annex?
- Published information does not say. Ask at the Machiya Setamai-eki reception on an opening day (closed Wednesdays).
Basic Information
| Name | Former Kanno Family Residence Annex (旧菅野家住宅離れ) |
|---|---|
| Location | 13-1 Setamai-eki, Setamai, Sumita-cho, Kesen-gun, Iwate Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | 2017 (registered) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2 storeys, hip-and-gable tiled roof; building area 52 square metres |
| Owner | Not stated in the Agency database (the facility is Sumita Town's community hub) |
| Public Access | Part of the Machiya Setamai-eki building (closed Wednesdays); ask at reception about the interior |
References
- Former Kanno Family Residence Annex (Agency for Cultural Affairs database)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00011439
- Former Kanno Family Residence Annex (Cultural Heritage Online)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/294150
- Machiya Setamai-eki community facility (Sumita Town, in Japanese)
- https://www.town.sumita.iwate.jp/docs/2016051300011/
Last verified: 2026.09.30
