Furuichi Family Residence (Nakatane Town, Kumage District, Kagoshima Prefecture)

A Representative Farmhouse of Tanegashima

The Furuichi Family Residence (Nakatane Town, Kumage District, Kagoshima Prefecture) (古市家住宅(鹿児島県熊毛郡中種子町)) is a house built in 1846 at Sakai, Nakatane Town, Kumage District, Kagoshima Prefecture, which in 1994 was designated an Important Cultural Property.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a building 6.7 by 11.1 metres, hip-and-gable at the front and gabled at the back, with a projecting wing on the north, designated with its ridge tag.

Nakatane Town notes that the ridge tag dates the house to 1846, and that its builder, Furuichi Gensuke, was a samurai farmer who served as village headman and inspector in Sakai.

Structure

According to Nakatane Town, the house has a formal-room section and an earth-floored section, forming an L-shaped plan: a simple, well-composed medium-sized house representative of Tanegashima farmhouses.

It was dismantled and repaired in 2001 and 2002 and restored to its original appearance.

What to Look For

Nakatane Town notes that the setting is well preserved and forms a historic scene with the house. The surroundings were laid out as the Sakai historic village park during road improvements and, with a nearby giant cycad, are a local attraction.

Notice the roof, hip-and-gable at the front and gabled at the back, and the L-shaped plan.

Visiting the Furuichi Family Residence (Nakatane Town, Kumage District, Kagoshima Prefecture)

Nakatane Town lists a private owner, and the surroundings are laid out as the Sakai historic village park. No official information on interior access could be found.

Enquiries: Nakatane Town social education section, 0997-27-1111.