One Main House, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property since 2008
Former Kadowaki Family Residence, Main Building (旧門脇家住宅主屋, Kyu-Kadowaki-ke Jutaku Shuoku) stands at 32-1 Taisho, Shimanto Town, Takaoka District, Kochi Prefecture, a Meiji-period farmhouse entered on the register of tangible cultural properties on 7 March 2008. It is a registered property rather than a designated one.
The quantity is one building. The owner is Shimanto Town.
The structure is timber, single-storeyed, thatched, with a floor area of 62 square metres. The date field reads Meiji and the year field 1875, with removal in 1990.
Moved Here from a Mountain Hamlet
Where it stands now is not where it was built.
The Agency records a south-facing thatched house with a hip-and-gable roof, which originally stood in a hamlet in the mountains.
Built in 1875, it was moved in 1990: 115 years after it was built, it left its mountain hamlet. Registration followed 18 years later.
The word former in the name marks it as having been the Kadowaki family's home; it now belongs to the town.
The former Yamanaka main house was given to a city and moved to a park. The annex of the Tani Yutaka residence was another family's main house, moved to serve as an annex.
Here the main house of a mountain hamlet came into the town's ownership and was moved elsewhere. Where it came to rest, it is still recorded as a main house.
A Plan Divided into Right, Centre and Left
Along its length, the house is split into three large parts.
The Agency records it as 5 bays by 3 and a half, divided lengthwise into three: a room of 10 mats with an alcove on the right, rooms of 2 and 3 mats one behind the other in the centre, and an earth-floored entrance and a hearth room on the left.
The alcove is a recess for display. A broad formal room with an alcove on the right, two small rooms in the centre, and a room around the hearth with the earthen floor on the left.
The two central rooms, of 2 and 3 mats, are very small beside the room of 10 mats.
The Akagi main house has a six-room plan on its ground floor, with rooms on the second and third floors too.
This is single-storeyed, with a room for guests, small rooms, and a room around the fire set in a row.
Bearing the Character of the District's Mountain Houses
The assessment turns on how well it fits the type of this land.
The Agency closes that it is a house bearing the character of the mountain farmhouses of this district.
The Shigeta main house is called a fine example of a named farmhouse type: there too the assessment is by type.
Here no named type is given; the compass is the mountain houses of this district.
It is a thatched single-storeyed house of 62 square metres, less than a quarter of the Akagi main house at 278 square metres.
A small main house suited to life in the hills was registered as one that conveys the character of its district.
Visiting
The house stands at 32-1 Taisho, Shimanto Town, Takaoka District, Kochi Prefecture, owned by the town.
It faces south under a thatched hip-and-gable roof, 5 bays by 3 and a half.
Cultural properties bearing the Kadowaki name exist in Tottori and elsewhere, but they are separate properties.
The house is owned by the town, so opening and terms follow the owner's arrangements. Check before travelling.
Its original site is recorded as a hamlet in the mountains.
Q&A
- When was the house registered?
- On 7 March 2008, as a registered tangible cultural property. It is registered rather than designated, and the quantity is one building.
- Where did it stand originally?
- In a hamlet in the mountains. It was built in 1875 and moved in 1990.
- How is it laid out?
- Divided lengthwise into three: a room of 10 mats with an alcove on the right, rooms of 2 and 3 mats in the centre, and the entrance and hearth room on the left.
- What is valued in it?
- That it bears the character of the mountain farmhouses of this district.
- How large is it?
- Five bays by three and a half, a thatched single-storeyed house with a floor area of 62 square metres.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Kadowaki Family Residence, Main Building (旧門脇家住宅主屋, Kyu-Kadowaki-ke Jutaku Shuoku) |
|---|---|
| Location | 32-1 Taisho, Shimanto Town, Takaoka District, Kochi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered tangible cultural property (structure, domestic architecture); registered rather than designated |
| Year Designated | 2008 (7 March), registered |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, single-storeyed, thatched, with a floor area of 62 square metres. South-facing and hip-and-gabled, 5 bays by 3 and a half. A room of 10 mats with an alcove on the right, rooms of 2 and 3 mats in the centre, and the entrance and hearth room on the left. The date field reads Meiji and the year field 1875, moved in 1990 |
| Owner | Shimanto Town |
| Public Access | Owned by the town; opening and terms follow the owner's arrangements |
References
- Cultural Heritage Online: the main house
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/153555
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/
- Shimanto Town
- https://www.town.shimanto.lg.jp/
- Kochi Prefecture: cultural properties
- https://www.pref.kochi.lg.jp/
Last verified: 2026.09.22