A Thatched House in a Tiled Skirt
Tottori Family Residence Main House (鳥取家住宅主屋, Tottori-ke Jūtaku Omoya) is an early-Meiji farmhouse in Toyonaka-cho, Mitoyo City, Kagawa Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 14 October 2021.
It stands at the centre of the compound, facing south, and everything else on the site grew around it. The house is a single storey under a big hipped roof (Yosemune-zukuri) entered from the long side (Hirairi). That roof was originally Kayabuki thatch and is now sheathed in sheet iron as a temporary cover. A continuous lean-to (Geya) roofed in tile runs around all four sides. The building covers 139 square metres.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates the Main House to the early Meiji period, between 1868 and 1882, and records alterations in the mid-Showa period and in 1995. It was the first building Tottori Jūzaburō put up after he split from the family's main line.
Why It Was Registered: Kagawa's Four-Sided Roof
The house was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The official description calls it a classic example of Shihōbuta-zukuri, a farmhouse type that shows the local character of the region well.
Shihoubuta means, roughly, four-sided lids. A steep thatched roof is ringed on every side by a shallower skirt of tile, so from a distance the house seems to wear two roofs, one stacked on the other. The form is typical of old landowning families in Kagawa, and the owner's website describes the Tottori Family Residence Main House as preserving both the standard layout and the building style of the district's old houses.
The plan is textbook too. The east end was once a beaten-earth work floor (Doma) and has been turned into a living room. The raised western half has four rooms arranged in a neat square, and the front eight-mat room has an oshiita alcove, an early form of the Tokonoma with a shallow raised board for hanging scrolls, next to the family's Buddhist altar.
The date comes with a caveat. The owner's website says the early-Meiji estimate rests on style and on the Rice Storehouse and East Barn of 1894, and mentions a family story that the house was moved here from somewhere else, a claim that still needs checking.
What to Look For
Start with the roofline. The upper roof is hidden under metal, but its steep pitch and bulk give away the thatch beneath. The tiled skirt meets it at a noticeably flatter angle, and if you step back from the front the crease between the two is easy to read.
The Main House is joined to later buildings. A covered corridor runs to the Bathhouse, and the Rear Zashiki and Hiya stand close on the west. Looking across the courtyard at the two-storey New Zashiki, you can take in half a century of the family's history in one glance: an early-Meiji farmhouse facing an early-Showa reception wing.
Visiting the Main House
The Tottori Family Residence Main House is the heart of a private home and its interior is not open to visitors. The owner's website gives no public visiting information, so anyone hoping to see the grounds should contact the owner beforehand. No photography rules are posted.
Guests staying in the New Zashiki guesthouse are, by the layout of the compound, just across the courtyard from the south face of the Main House. Directions and lodging details are on the Tottori Family Residence page.
Q&A
- Can visitors go inside the Tottori Family Residence Main House?
- No. The interior is not open, and the owner's website has no public visiting information. Contact the owner in advance if you hope to see the grounds.
- What is the shihoubuta roof of the Tottori Family Residence Main House?
- It is a Kagawa farmhouse roof in which a steep thatched roof is surrounded on all four sides by a lower tiled lean-to. Here the thatch is currently sheathed in sheet iron.
- When was the Tottori Family Residence Main House built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives the early Meiji period, between 1868 and 1882. The owner's side bases this on the Rice Storehouse and East Barn of 1894, and a story that the house was moved from elsewhere is unconfirmed.
- How is the Tottori Family Residence Main House laid out inside?
- The east end was an earth-floored work area, now a living room. The west half has four rooms in a square, and the front eight-mat room holds an oshiita alcove and a Buddhist altar.
- Why was the Tottori Family Residence Main House registered?
- As a farmhouse in the local shihoubuta style that shows the character of the region well, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape.
Basic Information
| Name | Tottori Family Residence Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | 1764 Kasada Kasaoka Goemon, Toyonaka-cho, Mitoyo City, Kagawa Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building), No. 37-0450 |
| Year Designated | Registered 2021/10/14 (Reiwa 3) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, single storey, thatched roof (temporarily sheathed in sheet iron) partly tiled, building area 139 square metres |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (private home; contact the owner in advance) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Tottori Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014095
- Cultural Heritage Online: Tottori Family Residence Main House
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/553975
- Kagawa Prefectural Board of Education: Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in Kagawa
- https://www.pref.kagawa.lg.jp/kenkyoui/shogaigakushu/bunkazai/culturalassets/culturalassets_16.html
- Guesthouse Kachoen, official site of the owner
- https://www.kachoen.jp/
Last verified: 2026.09.26
