Matsushita Family Residence (Chiran, Minamikyushu)

About the Matsushita Family Residence

The Matsushita Family Residence (松下家住宅, Matsushita-ke Jūtaku) is an early Meiji-era homestead in the Higashishioya district of Minamibeppu, Chiran Town, in Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima Prefecture, and its main house, storehouse and stone wall became Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on December 5, 2007. All three stand on the same lot, 27024 Higashishioya, and Minamikyushu City lists them side by side among its cultural properties.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates all three to the early Meiji period. Only the storehouse has a later chapter, a renovation in the mid-Shōwa years. The main house is a single-storey home built from two linked blocks; the storehouse joins two two-storey units end to end; and the stone wall wraps three sides of the plot for a combined length of 78 meters.

Other houses called the Matsushita Family Residence exist elsewhere in Japan, including two in Nagano Prefecture. This page covers the one in Chiran, on the southern side of the Satsuma Peninsula.

How the Plot Is Laid Out

Put together, the Agency's three descriptions give a clear picture of the Matsushita Family Residence.

• The main house sits toward the west of the plot and faces east. Its footprint is 200 square meters.
• The storehouse stands south of the main house, right at the southern edge of the plot, with a footprint of 66 square meters.
• The stone wall runs, with gaps, from the east side around the south and up the west side. Midway along the east side it turns inward to form the entrance.

Step through that eastern opening and the main house faces you, with the storehouse off to the left along the southern boundary. The wall is tallest on the west, reaching 2.7 meters, and at the southwest corner it bends in a smooth curve instead of a sharp angle.

The Agency credits the wall, together with the storehouse, with shaping the look of the street. From outside, it is mostly stone and the white plaster of the storehouse that you see.

Registration

The three structures of the Matsushita Family Residence were entered on the register in the 57th round of registrations on December 5, 2007, and officially announced on December 19. Their registration numbers run in sequence: 46-0055 for the main house, 46-0056 for the storehouse and 46-0057 for the stone wall.

The main house was registered as a model of form, a building that shows a traditional local house type clearly. The storehouse and the wall were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape, as the pieces that give the homestead and its street their character.

Minamikyushu City explains that farmhouses in southern Kyushu were traditionally built as clusters of separate buildings, with the omote, the nakae and the stable each under its own roof. The main house here keeps that idea in a compact form, with a nakae block and an omote block set slightly offset from one another.

Visiting the Matsushita Family Residence

No public opening or special viewing days could be found for the Matsushita Family Residence, and the Agency's database does not name an owner. Treat the grounds and interiors as closed and enjoy the property from outside.

From the street you can see the stone wall and, above it, the walls and roofs of the storehouse and the main house. Take photographs only from the public road, and keep clear of residents and traffic.

The nearest station is Satsuma-Shioya on the JR Ibusuki Makurazaki Line. The Matsushita Family Residence lies about 700 meters southeast of the station in a straight line.