Fukuda Family Residence Guest Hall and Annex

About the Guest Hall and Annex

The Fukuda Family Residence Guest Hall and Annex (福田家住宅客殿及び離れ, Fukuda-ke Jūtaku Kyakuden oyobi Hanare) in Higashisako, Noichi-cho, Konan City, Kochi Prefecture, is a two-storey earthen-walled guest hall with a timber annex, built in 1923 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 21, 2002. It covers 93 square meters under a tiled roof.

The Fukuda Family Residence Guest Hall and Annex stands in the northwest corner of the compound, with the reception wing attached on its south side. It predates the main house by a year; only the storehouse is older.

How the Two Parts Fit

The guest hall of the Fukuda Family Residence Guest Hall and Annex measures 4 ken by 3 ken, its ridge running north to south. It is built in Dozo-zukuri, the thick plastered earthen walls of a storehouse, with eaves (Hisashi) on all four sides and a hip-and-gable roof. The ground floor held a dining room and other rooms; upstairs are two six-mat rooms.

The annex runs east to west off the east side of the guest hall, set at right angles as a Tsunoya wing. Its walls leave the posts exposed (Shinkabe). A heavy, sealed hall and a lighter, open annex were registered together as one property.

Four Tiers from Two Storeys

The Fukuda Family Residence Guest Hall and Annex was registered as a model of architectural design, under register number 39-0057.

What the Agency for Cultural Affairs highlights is the outside of the guest hall: a two-storey building made to read as four tiers through Mizukiri-gawara. These are rows of tiles set into a plastered wall like small eaves, shedding rain that would otherwise stream down and wear away the Tosa-shikkui lime finish in wet Kochi.

Here the bands also run partway up each floor, cutting the walls into horizontal strips. Stacked with the perimeter eaves and the upper roof, the lines make the hall look taller than it is. A weatherproofing device became the design itself, and that is the heart of the registration.

Seeing the Guest Hall

The Fukuda Family Residence Guest Hall and Annex sits in the northwest corner, with the 2.2-meter outer wall running along the north side. As the only two-storey hall on the lot, its upper part rises above the height of that wall.

No interior opening has been announced, and the grounds are not open to visitors. Access details for the whole compound are on the Fukuda Family Residence group page.