A Wing Built for Guests
The Nagasaki Family Residence Formal Reception Wing (長﨑家住宅本座敷, Nagasaki-ke Jūtaku Omote-zashiki) is a separate block of formal rooms standing northwest of the main house of a merchant family in Hiketa, Higashikagawa City, Kagawa Prefecture, built in 1930 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 28, 2011.
Omote-zashiki means the front, or formal, reception rooms. Well-to-do merchant families often kept such rooms apart from the household's everyday quarters, and here the Nagasaki family gave them a building of their own.
It is a single-storey timber building of 78 square metres with a tiled roof. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes a Yosemune-zukuri hipped roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles, with an entrance porch under a small Irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable roof projecting from the east gable end.
Inside, two Zashiki rooms of eight tatami mats each sit side by side, east and west. A veranda wraps the south and west sides, sheltered by a lean-to Geya roof. The Nagasaki Family Residence Formal Reception Wing is a textbook plan for receiving guests: a pair of connecting rooms with a veranda turning the corner around them.
Why It Was Registered
The Nagasaki Family Residence Formal Reception Wing was listed, like the other five structures, for its contribution to the historic landscape. Within the group it is the centre of hospitality.
What the Agency's description dwells on is interior detail. The transom above the Tsukeshoin built-in writing desk is cut in the manner of a kozama, the cusped, petal-edged opening seen on the bases of altars and Buddhist platforms. The small wall panels above the lintels take shoji in a pine-lozenge (matsubishi) design, and a carved Ranma transom marks the division between the two rooms.
In 1930 the family had been brewing soy sauce for a little over 20 years. Building a separate guest wing and lavishing this kind of detail on it says a good deal about how much weight a Hiketa merchant house placed on receiving visitors.
What to Look For
The key exterior feature is the porch on the east gable. Setting a hip-and-gable roof, a higher-ranking form, against the plain hipped roof of the wing marks the guests' door. The front fence turns the corner to enclose this east side, so visitors most likely came in through the front gate and straight to this porch.
Beyond the west veranda, a Kure-en walkway of lengthwise boards leads to the guest lavatory. Rooms, veranda, toilet and bath run in one sequence, so a guest could refresh without leaving the reception suite. The Agency's description of the lavatory calls the whole sequence a fine space for entertaining.
The transoms and shoji are interior features and cannot be seen from outside. For the details of the Nagasaki Family Residence Formal Reception Wing, the photographs attached to its entry in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database are the best guide.
Visiting the Reception Wing
The wing stands inside the front gate and fence, so it cannot be seen in full from the old highway. This is a private home, and no public opening of the interior could be confirmed during research for this article.
From the street you may catch only part of the roof above the fence. Please do not enter the grounds or look in through the lattice openings in the fence.
Q&A
- What is the Nagasaki Family Residence Formal Reception Wing?
- The Nagasaki Family Residence Formal Reception Wing is a single-storey timber reception building of 1930, 78 square metres in area, with two eight-mat rooms and a veranda on the south and west, built for receiving guests.
- How do you pronounce the Japanese name of the Nagasaki Family Residence Formal Reception Wing?
- The name 本座敷 is read omote-zashiki here, not hon-zashiki. The full name reads Nagasaki-ke Jūtaku Omote-zashiki.
- What are the highlights of the Nagasaki Family Residence Formal Reception Wing?
- The hip-and-gable entrance porch on the east gable and the interior detail: a kozama-style transom over the built-in desk, pine-lozenge shoji and the transom between the two rooms, all singled out by the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
- Can visitors go inside the Nagasaki Family Residence Formal Reception Wing?
- No regular public opening could be confirmed; it is part of a private home. The building stands behind a fence and is not visible in full from the street.
- When was the Nagasaki Family Residence Formal Reception Wing registered?
- It was registered on October 28, 2011, together with the other 5 structures of the Nagasaki Family Residence, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape.
Basic Information
| Name | Nagasaki Family Residence Formal Reception Wing (長﨑家住宅本座敷) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2417-2 Hatakata, Hiketa, Higashikagawa City, Kagawa Prefecture, and other lots |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2011/10/28 (Heisei 23) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 78 square metres (timber, single storey, tiled roof) |
| Owner | Private (no owner named in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database) |
| Public Access | No public opening of the interior confirmed; stands behind the front fence, not visible in full from the street |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Nagasaki Family Residence Formal Reception Wing
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009073
- Higashikagawa City: List of Designated and Registered Cultural Properties (Japanese)
- https://www.higashikagawa.jp/soshikikarasagasu/shogaigakushuka/gyomuannai/8/1/1085.html
- Higashikagawa City Tourism Information: Hiketa Town Walking Map (PDF, Japanese)
- https://higashikagawa.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/hiketa_map_k.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.24
