Two Roofs, One House
The Sameshima Family Residence Main House (鮫島家住宅主屋, Sameshima-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a late Meiji-period timber house in the Kaseda Fumoto district of Minamisatsuma City, Kagoshima Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 25 July 2011. It is built in the divided-wing manner, as a reception wing and a kitchen wing placed side by side, with a combined building area of 285 square metres.
The house sits on sloping ground at the foot of the hill, behind the storehouse and gatehouse that line the street. The Japan Heritage description dates the estate to around 1902 and identifies the Sameshima as a family in farming and fishing who founded the Nansatsuma Bank. The building was renovated in 1998.
Why the Plan Matters
The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls the Sameshima Family Residence Main House a modern dwelling that carries distinctive regional features, and the divided plan is the main one. Instead of a single large roof over everything, the kitchen, with its fires and work, gets a building of its own, and the rooms for guests and family get another. The arrangement is common in the traditional houses of southern Kyushu, and here it survives in a house built well after the samurai era ended.
The two wings are roofed differently. The kitchen wing has a plain Kirizuma-zukuri gable; the reception wing is hipped and gabled, in the Irimoya-zukuri manner, at its east end and simply gabled at its west. Both are covered in Sangawara-buki pantiles. The walls are of the thick, post-concealing type and finished in white Shikkui lime plaster, so from outside the house reads as broad plastered planes rather than exposed timber.
Inside, by contrast, the reception rooms are described as open. Closed and weatherproof toward the street, open toward the garden: that balance is what the listing, made under the criterion of contribution to the historic landscape, is recognising.
What to Notice
Look at the roofline first. Only the east end of the reception wing carries the hip-and-gable profile; everything else stops in a straight gable. The difference in roof form is the difference in function made visible.
The reception rooms face a garden screened off by the courtyard garden gate. The tourism association's walking map notes that the garden once used spring water and, now that the spring has dried, is kept as a dry garden, and that the old kitchen survives. The inner storehouse stands just north of the kitchen wing.
Visiting
The Sameshima Family Residence Main House is a private home and its interior is not open to the public. Because it stands behind the storehouse and gatehouse, it cannot be seen as a whole from the street. Please stay on the public road and avoid photographing the family's daily life. Directions to the district are given on the Sameshima Family Residence page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Kagoshima
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Sameshima Family Residence Main House
- [ Sakurajima Ferry & Yakushima World Heritage ]
Q&A
- When was the Sameshima Family Residence Main House built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the late Meiji period, and the Japan Heritage description puts the estate at around 1902. It was renovated in 1998 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 25 July 2011.
- What is unusual about the plan of the Sameshima Family Residence Main House?
- It is a divided-wing house: a kitchen wing with a gabled roof and a reception wing that is hipped and gabled at the east end and gabled at the west, together covering 285 square metres.
- Can visitors go inside the Sameshima Family Residence Main House?
- No. It is a privately owned home, and no public or special openings are announced (checked September 2026). It stands behind the storehouse and gatehouse, so it is not fully visible from the street.
- Is the Sameshima Family Residence Main House the same as the Sameshima (Kenji) Family Residence?
- The Sameshima (Kenji) Family Residence is the name Japan Heritage uses for the same estate. The main house is its central building, one of seven registered listings on the property.
- How is the exterior of the Sameshima Family Residence Main House finished?
- Its walls are of the thick, post-concealing type finished in white lime plaster, and both wings are roofed with pantiles.
Basic Information
| Name | Sameshima Family Residence Main House (鮫島家住宅主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 18275 Kaseda Takeda, Minamisatsuma City, Kagoshima Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registration no. 46-0095 |
| Year Designated | Registered 2011/7/25 (Heisei 23) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, single-storey, tiled roof; building area 285 square metres |
| Owner | Private individual (not published) |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (private residence) |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Sameshima Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008793
- Cultural Heritage Online: Sameshima Family Residence Main House
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/161404
- Japan Heritage Portal, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Sameshima (Kenji) Family Residence
- https://www.japan-heritage.bunka.go.jp/ja/culturalproperties/result/4679/
- Satsuma Samurai Towns Japan Heritage Council: Sameshima (Kenji) Family Residence
- https://kagoshima-fumoto.jp/minamisatsuma/%E9%AE%AB%E5%B3%B6%E5%81%A5%E5%BF%97%E5%AE%B6%E4%BD%8F%E5%AE%85/
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Minamisatsuma-shi Kaseda Fumoto
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/103/00000125
- Satsuma Samurai Towns Japan Heritage Council: Kaseda Fumoto
- https://kagoshima-fumoto.jp/minamisatsuma/
- Minamisatsuma Tourism Association: Kaseda Fumoto walking map (PDF)
- https://kanko-minamisatsuma.jp/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/feature-kasedamachiaruki.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.25
