Matsuoka Family Residence Bathroom

A Bathhouse in Concrete

The Matsuoka Family Residence Bathroom (松岡家住宅浴室, Yokushitsu) is a single-storey reinforced-concrete bathhouse built in the early Shōwa era in the Matsuoka sake brewer's compound in Hongō, Hidaka Village, Kōchi Prefecture, and registered as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2 March 2004. It stands on the north side of the site, directly behind the center of the Main House.

It measures 4.6 meters by 2.2 meters in plan, with a building area of 10 square meters. The roof is flat, and the walls are rendered in mortar scored with joints. Among the tiled roofs of the compound, a flat-topped concrete box is hard to miss.

It is dated to early Shōwa like the Main House, and together with the Toilet just to the west it reflects a plan that moved the household's washing and sanitary rooms into separate buildings.

A Small Building Judged as Design

Only three of the twelve listed structures at the Matsuoka Family Residence were registered as works that set a standard for design: the Main House, the Main House Gate and Fence, and the Matsuoka Family Residence Bathroom. A 10-square-meter outbuilding was judged on the same terms as the house itself.

The reason is in the detail. A cornice runs around the top of the walls, pilasters stand out at the corners, and a curved canopy projects over the door. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as small but elaborately designed.

Concrete made practical sense for a room full of water and steam: it does not rot and does not burn. The builders then went further, bringing in the cornices and pilasters of Western architecture and turning a utility building into something designed.

The Curve Over the Door

At the Matsuoka Family Residence Bathroom, the first thing to catch the eye is the curved canopy over the entrance, the one soft line on a box made of straight edges and right angles.

Then follow the corner pilasters and the cornice that runs all the way around. Flat-roofed buildings tend to look blunt; that band at the top and those verticals at the corners give this one a frame. The scored mortar matches the dado of the Toilet next door.

That a village brewer put this much care into a bathhouse tucked behind his house says a good deal about the household in early Shōwa.

Visiting

The Matsuoka Family Residence Bathroom stands behind the Main House and cannot be seen from the lane; the interior is not open. Visit on an event day or arrange access with the Hidaka Sakagura Association to see the exterior.

Booking details and directions are on the Matsuoka Family Residence page.