What Is the Hirukawa Family Residence (Former Toya Family Residence) Main House?
The Hirukawa Family Residence (Former Toya Family Residence) Main House (蛭川家住宅（旧遠矢家住宅）主屋) is the dwelling of a gōshi, or rural samurai, household in Tsuneyoshi, Osumi-cho, Soo City, Kagoshima Prefecture, built in the late Edo period (1830 to 1868), renovated around 1965 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 4, 2015.
It is a wooden, single-storey building with a tiled roof and a footprint of 180 square meters, the house the family actually lives in among the three registered structures on the plot. The Agency for Cultural Affairs reads the word for main house, 主屋, as shuoku; the Kagoshima prefectural encyclopedia reads it omoya.
Why It Was Registered: A Floor Plan from the Late Edo Period
The Hirukawa Family Residence main house was registered as No. 46-0116 for contributing to the historic landscape. What the official description singles out is not size or ornament but the arrangement of rooms. The house keeps the plan that samurai families in this part of Kagoshima used, and it shows how a local warrior household lived at the end of the Edo period.
The prefecture's heritage encyclopedia makes the same point, calling it a building in which the late Edo samurai floor plan of the area can be clearly read. The renovation of around 1965 did not erase that plan, and the plan is what the registration protects.
Three Rooms in Front, Three Behind
The rooms of the Hirukawa Family Residence (Former Toya Family Residence) Main House fall into two rows. Along the front run three rooms in a straight line: the entrance room, the anteroom and the formal Zashiki. Behind them lie a storeroom (Nando), a smaller sitting room called koza, and a space called the nakae. A veranda (Engawa) wraps the side facing the garden.
Soo City records the names the household has used for each room. The entrance is the Hikae-no-ma, the waiting room; the anteroom is the Yari-no-ma; the zashiki is the Shiroshoin-no-ma, a name that recalls the shoin, the formal study-style reception room; and the koza is the Yakata-no-ma. Read in order, the front three names lead a guest from a place to wait, through an intermediate room, to the shoin-named room at the far end.
Nakae is a word found in old Kagoshima farmhouses, where it names the second building that pairs with the front block, the omote. Here the registration simply lists the nakae among the rear rooms of the main house and says nothing more about it, so its use in this house is not described.
A floor plan of the main house is posted on the Soo City page, and it is the clearest way to see the three front rooms lined up in a row.
Visiting the Main House
The Hirukawa Family Residence main house is a private home and its interior is not open. Soo City also states that the property is closed to the public, so the grounds cannot be entered. The best way to study the house is through the floor plan and photographs on the Soo City page and the photographs in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database.
The main house stands behind the gate on the south side of the plot, and we could not confirm how much of it can be seen from outside. Directions and general notes for visitors are on the Hirukawa Family Residence (Former Toya Family Residence) page.
Q&A
- When was the Hirukawa Family Residence (Former Toya Family Residence) Main House built?
- In the late Edo period. The national database gives a range of 1830 to 1868 and records a renovation around 1965.
- What is the floor plan of the Hirukawa Family Residence main house like?
- Three rooms (entrance room, anteroom and zashiki) stand in a row along the front, with a storeroom, a koza sitting room and the nakae behind them. A veranda runs along the garden side. It is the traditional samurai house plan of the area.
- What do room names such as Hikae-no-ma and Yari-no-ma mean in the Hirukawa Family Residence main house?
- They are the household names for the rooms recorded by Soo City: Hikae-no-ma for the entrance room, Yari-no-ma for the anteroom, Shiroshoin-no-ma for the zashiki and Yakata-no-ma for the koza.
- When was the Hirukawa Family Residence (Former Toya Family Residence) Main House registered?
- On August 4, 2015, as Registered Tangible Cultural Property No. 46-0116, for contributing to the historic landscape.
- Can I go inside the Hirukawa Family Residence main house?
- No. It is a private home that Soo City lists as not open to the public. The floor plan and photographs on the Soo City website are the way to see it.
Basic Information
| Name | Hirukawa Family Residence (Former Toya Family Residence) Main House (蛭川家住宅（旧遠矢家住宅）主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 566 Baba, Tsuneyoshi, Osumi-cho, Soo City, Kagoshima Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building), Registration No. 46-0116 |
| Year Designated | Registered August 4, 2015 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Wooden, single-storey, tiled roof, building area 180 square meters |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (private residence) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Hirukawa Family Residence (Former Toya Family Residence) Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010708
- Cultural Heritage Online: Main House
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/265602
- Hirukawa Family Residence (Former Toya Family Residence): Main House, Storehouse and Gate (Soo City, in Japanese)
- https://www.city.soo.kagoshima.jp/kankou_event/rekisibunnka/siseki/hirukawakezyuutaku.html
- Kagoshima Cultural Properties Encyclopedia: Main House (Kagoshima Prefectural Board of Education, in Japanese)
- https://k-bunkazai-school.com/cultural/f-q-60111/
- Tenoma Futatsuya Farmhouse (Reimeikan, Kagoshima Prefectural Museum of Culture, in Japanese)
- https://www.pref.kagoshima.jp/ab23/reimeikan/josetsu/bumon/minsoku/taberu/sumu/kgs05_s3_3.html
Last verified: 2026.10.03
