Aizen Family Residence Main House

A Townhouse Front on the Konpira Road

The Aizen Family Residence Main House (愛染家住宅主屋, Aizen-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a two-storey wooden Machiya townhouse of about 1931 facing east onto the old Konpira Kaidō in Higashihaze-chō, Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 12 July 2005.

With a building area of 170 square metres, the Aizen Family Residence Main House is the largest of the four registered buildings on the plot. Its plan is a U: a front range along the road, with wings folding back around a courtyard.

Why It Was Registered: The Street Façade

The Aizen Family Residence Main House was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape, and the part that earns that is the face it shows the road.

The front range is a two-storey block under a hip-and-gable Irimoya-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles, its ridge running north to south. A lean-to roof, or Geya, projects over the ground floor, and set a little north of centre is an entrance porch with its own small hip-and-gable roof. The Agency for Cultural Affairs sums up the frontage as solid yet elegant.

What to Look For: Black Plaster, White Tile, Stepped Copper Eaves

Look first at the upper storey of the Aizen Family Residence Main House. The walls are finished in black Shikkui plaster, with a dado of white tiles along their base. The contrast of black wall and white base stands out clearly from the street.

Then follow the eaves. They are sheathed in copper sheet and built out in a series of steps. The copper protects the timber from fire and rain, and the stepping turns that protection into ornament.

The porch roof sits like a second, smaller roof on top of the lean-to. Notice that it is not centred on the front but shifted slightly to the north.

Viewing the Main House

The Aizen Family Residence Main House is a private home and its interior is not open. The east front faces the road, so the black plaster, the white tile dado, the copper eaves and the porch can all be seen from the street.

The rear wings and the courtyard are out of sight. Please view the house from across the road rather than stopping at the entrance, and do not enter the grounds.