A straight-plan farmhouse among the bent-roof giants
Most people who walk into Tono Furusato Village come looking for the L-shaped houses where families once lived under the same roof as their horses. The Former Kikuchi Kiemon Family Residence is not one of those. Its rooms run in a single line beneath one long hipped roof, a form the Nanbu region called sugoya, or straight house. Seeing it beside the famous L-shaped dwellings is the quickest way to understand what made the bent-roof houses so distinctive: this one simply never grew a wing for the stable.
The house dates from the late Edo period, built at some point between roughly 1751 and 1829. Nine bays run along the front (about fifteen metres) and three and a half bays deep, with the entrance on the long side. In 1994 the building was taken down and reassembled at the open-air village in the Tsukimoushi district of Tono, where it now stands among rice paddies, a watermill, and other rescued farmhouses.
Step inside and the plan reads left to right in a clear sequence. First the earthen-floored doma and a storeroom called the nando; then the everyday living room, the joi; then the formal zashiki and the sleeping room beyond. A narrow open veranda, the nurien, wraps around the living room and the formal room, catching whatever winter sun reaches this mountain valley. Off to one side, past a store space, a separate kitchen with a gabled roof held down by stones connects to the main body.
Why a modest house earned national listing
The residence became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2006, listed under the criterion for structures that would be difficult to recreate today. That phrase points to something specific. A thatched hipped roof of this scale, framed and bound by hand and dressed with reeds cut and bundled the old way, depends on skills and materials that are now scarce. The registration recognises the building less as a monument and more as a working record of how ordinary farmers in the former Nanbu domain built to survive long, snow-heavy winters.
The rear of the house is worth a close look for this reason. Where the front opens toward light and the veranda, the back wall stays almost solid, with few openings. This closed, archaic treatment is typical of older farmhouses in the district and speaks to a time when keeping warmth in mattered more than views out. Compared with the region's larger, more elaborate homes, the Kiemon house shows the plain end of the vernacular tradition, and that plainness is part of what the listing protects.
What to look for when you visit
Come at the roofline first. The reed thatch, the deep eaves, and the way the ridge sits low against the hills tell you how the house shrugs off snow. Then find the stone-weighted kitchen roof, an economical solution you will not see on modern buildings: flat stones laid across boards, holding the covering down against mountain wind.
Inside, notice how the living room and the formal room differ in feel. The joi was the heart of daily life, worn by generations of use; the zashiki was kept for guests and ceremony. Walking the line of rooms, you can trace a whole household's day without a guidebook. The village's resident interpreters, known locally as maburitto, are usually on hand and happy to explain how a family kept warm, cooked, and slept in a space like this.
The house sits within a larger recreated hamlet, so allow time to wander. The setting changes completely with the seasons, from cherry blossom and fresh green to autumn colour and deep snow, and the unpaved paths underfoot are part of the experience.
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Q&A
- What is the difference between this house and the L-shaped magariya?
- The Kiemon house is a straight-plan sugoya: all its rooms sit in one line under a single hipped roof, with no projecting wing. A magariya adds an L-shaped section that usually holds the earthen floor and the horse stable, so people and horses shared the same building. Seeing the two side by side at the village makes the contrast easy to grasp.
- How old is the building, and is it in its original location?
- It was built in the late Edo period, roughly between 1751 and 1829. The structure was moved to Tono Furusato Village in 1994, so it now stands in a recreated hamlet rather than on its original site.
- Can I go inside?
- Yes. The house is one of the buildings open to visitors at Tono Furusato Village, an open-air museum. The village is generally open from 9:00 to 17:00, with last entry at 16:00 (15:30 from November through March). Checking the official site before you travel is wise, as hours can change with the season.
- How do I get there?
- The village lies north of central Tono, about a twenty-minute drive from JR Tono Station or from the Tono interchange on the Kamaishi Expressway. A local bus toward the Sakanoshita area also serves a Furusato-mura stop nearby.
- Why is Tono known for these farmhouses?
- Tono was a horse-raising district in the former Nanbu (Morioka) domain, and its rural architecture grew around that life. The area is also the setting of the 1910 folklore classic Tono Monogatari, which drew wide attention to the region's traditions.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Kikuchi Kiemon Family Residence |
|---|---|
| Location | 5-89-1 Kamitsukimoushi, Tsukimoushi-cho, Tono City, Iwate Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building); registered 2 March 2006 (announced 23 March 2006) |
| Registration No. | 03-0059 |
| Period | Late Edo period (c. 1751–1829); relocated 1994 |
| Structure | One building; single-storey timber, thatched hipped roof; nine bays by three and a half bays; building area approx. 129 m² |
| Owner | Tono City |
| Access | Within Tono Furusato Village (open-air museum); approx. 20 min by car from JR Tono Station |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs — National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00005217
- Tono Furusato Village — Official Site
- https://www.tono-furusato.jp/
- Tono Jikan — Tono City Tourism Information
- https://tonojikan.jp/kanko/furusatomura.php
Last verified: 2026.07.06