What Is the Former Kikuchi Family Residence?
The Former Kikuchi Family Residence (旧菊池家住宅, Kyū Kikuchi-ke Jūtaku), originally located in Otomo-cho, Tono City, is a thatched L-shaped farmhouse built no later than the mid-18th century and now preserved at Denshoen in Tsuchibuchi-cho, Tono, Iwate Prefecture; it was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1976.
The house is a magariya, the farmhouse type of the old Morioka (Nanbu) domain in which the stable is joined to the living quarters at a right angle, so that people and horses share one roof. It originally stood in Otomo-cho, in the south of Tono. Tono City notes that the Kikuchi family acquired it in 1924; earlier owners are said to have been the Takahashi, Osawa, and Yamakage families, though the details are uncertain.
A year after the designation, in 1977, Tono City took the building into public ownership, and in 1978 it was dismantled and rebuilt at Denshoen (伝承園), the city's folklore park in Tsuchibuchi. The main block of the Former Kikuchi Family Residence measures 20.3 meters by 9.1 meters, and the wing projecting to the south measures 8.6 meters by 7.6 meters. Both sections are roofed in Kayabuki thatch in the hipped Yosemune-zukuri form.
Why the Former Kikuchi Family Residence Is Important
The Agency for Cultural Affairs values the house because it shows how the magariya came into being. The Former Kikuchi Family Residence was not built as an L-shaped house at all.
A summary of the 1979 restoration report, published by Tono City, explains that the building began as a sugoya, a straight farmhouse nine bays (17.6 meters) long. The earthen-floored section was later lengthened by one and a half bays (2.9 meters), and the projecting stable wing was formed at the same time. That change seems to have come quite early, and because the original straight frame was kept, the change of house type can still be traced in the timber.
The structure keeps some old techniques. At the northeast and northwest corners of the original house, diagonal Hiuchibari braces were used so that the inner corner posts could be left out, a practice the report describes as rarely seen. The roof is framed with sasu rafters meeting at the ridge, with no ridge post, and the timbers were finished with adzes and axes.
No document records the date of construction. Comparison with other farmhouses led to the conclusion that the house is no later than the mid-18th century.
What to Look For
From outside, the Former Kikuchi Family Residence looks closed in, with plenty of wall and few openings. The restoration report reconstructs the house at the time it became a magariya with solid plastered walls on every side except the front, and even there only one bay of the front room had sliding doors. That reserved exterior is one of the signs of its age.
The plan is the standard one for magariya in the southern part of the old Morioka domain. Two formal rooms, one behind the other, occupy the upper end. Next come two sleeping rooms and a passage room, then a large family room toward the back and a living room toward the front, with the kitchen stepping out onto the earthen floor. The projecting wing is earthen-floored and partly given over to the stable, and the main entrance opens on the inner side of that wing.
Enter through that door and the arrangement explains itself: stable on one side, household on the other, both under the same thatch. Denshoen displays period furniture and farm tools inside.
Look up at the roof, too. Between July and November 2014, the thatch was completely renewed for the first time in the 36 years since the move, mostly with thatching grass grown in Tono itself. The turf ridge, where soil and grass are laid along the top of the thatch, was replanted at the same time. The ridge of the main block peaks about 7.7 meters above the top of its foundation stones.
Visiting the Former Kikuchi Family Residence
The Former Kikuchi Family Residence is part of Denshoen, and both the exterior and the interior are open to visitors with park admission. A narrow corridor at the back of the house leads to the Oshirado, a small hall displaying about a thousand oshirasama figures; the only way into it is through the house.
Admission is 450 yen for adults and 350 yen for high school students and younger, and free for preschool children. From March through November the park opens at 9:00 a.m. and closes at 5:00 p.m., with last entry at 4:30 p.m. From December through February hours are 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with last entry at 3:30 p.m. It closes over the New Year holidays and on Tuesdays in January and February.
Denshoen is about 4.9 kilometers from Tono Station on the JR Kamaishi Line. Local buses on the Tsuchibuchi route stop at Denshoen. By car it is about 12.1 kilometers, roughly 17 minutes, from the Tono Interchange on the Kamaishi Expressway, and there is free parking for 100 cars and 8 buses.
Denshoen also runs storytelling sessions by reservation, where a local narrator tells old tales beside the hearth of the farmhouse. No photography policy is published, so ask at reception before taking pictures indoors.
Q&A
- How old is the Former Kikuchi Family Residence?
- There is no written date, but comparison with other farmhouses places it no later than the mid-18th century. It was first built as a straight house, and the stable wing was added not long afterward.
- Where is the Former Kikuchi Family Residence now?
- It was moved from Otomo-cho in 1978 and stands inside Denshoen, a folklore park in Tsuchibuchi-cho, Tono City.
- How much does it cost to see the Former Kikuchi Family Residence, and when is it open?
- Denshoen admission is 450 yen for adults and 350 yen for high school students and younger. Hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from March through November and 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from December through February; the park closes over the New Year and on Tuesdays in January and February.
- Why is the Former Kikuchi Family Residence important for the history of the magariya?
- It began as a straight farmhouse and was later extended into an L-shape with a stable wing, and the building still shows that change. The Agency for Cultural Affairs regards it as rare evidence of how the magariya developed.
- Can I go inside the Former Kikuchi Family Residence?
- Yes. The interior is open, and the route to the Oshirado hall runs through a corridor at the back of the house.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Kikuchi Family Residence (from Otomo-cho, Tono City, Iwate Prefecture) |
|---|---|
| Location | Tsuchibuchi Country Park, 5-3, Tsuchibuchi 6-jiwari, Tsuchibuchi-cho, Tono City, Iwate Prefecture (inside Denshoen) |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property |
| Year Designated | 1976 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 20.3 m frontage, 9.1 m depth; south wing 8.6 m by 7.6 m |
| Owner | Tono City |
| Public Access | Open (inside Denshoen, adult admission 450 yen) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs Database: Former Kikuchi Family Residence
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/104
- Cultural Heritage Online: Former Kikuchi Family Residence
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/120914
- Tono City: Former Kikuchi Family Residence at Denshoen
- https://www.city.tono.iwate.jp/index.cfm/48,30610,303,html
- Tono Jikan (Tono City Tourism): Denshoen
- https://tonojikan.jp/tourism/denshoen/
- Denshoen: Park Guide
- https://www.densyoen.jp/park
- Denshoen: About
- https://www.densyoen.jp/about
Last verified: 2026.10.05