The House at the Centre of the Plot
The Nomura Takao Family Residence Main House (野村隆男家住宅主屋, Nomura Takao-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a late Edo-period (1830–1867) samurai dwelling in Doi Kakuchū, Aki City, Kochi Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 12 July 2005. It is a single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 98 square metres, registered as number 39-0188.
Of the 7 registered parts of the residence, the main house is the one people actually lived in, and its registration also covers 2 small garden gates attached to it. Locally it is known as the Nomura Family Residence.
Why It Was Registered
The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the Nomura house as standing in the old samurai quarter south-west of the site of Aki Doi Castle, and values it because it preserves the planning of a warrior's house. The formal criterion is its contribution to the historic landscape.
The national record dates it only to the end of the Edo period. The Aki City Tourist Association is more specific, estimating a date around 1830, in the Tenpō era, and calls it the oldest house left in Doi Kakuchū.
Reading the Plan
The building measures 5 Ken by 4.5 ken, runs east to west, and has a gabled kirizuma roof laid with pantiles. The entrance sits in the middle of the west gable end, fitted with a Shikidai, the low boarded step of a formal samurai entrance.
Inside, the rooms are arranged in two rows. Along the south are rooms of 4.5, 4 and 6 tatami mats, the last with a Tokonoma alcove; along the north are rooms of 4.5 and 6 mats. The kitchen wing, the kamaya, sticks out at the north-west corner. The formal room with its alcove lies to the south, with everyday rooms and the kitchen pushed to the north, a clear split between reception and daily life.
The prefectural tourism site points out that the entrance hall is only 3 mats in size and says it was kept deliberately tight so that an intruder could not move freely. Beside it is the musha-kakushi, literally a hiding place for warriors, a stretch of wall about 90 centimetres wide; the Aki City Tourist Association gives it as about 3 shaku.
The same source notes that there are verandas on both the south and the north sides, so that air can pass straight through the house in Kochi's humid summers. Stand in the main room and look north and south and you can see the through-draught at work.
One of the garden gates is fixed to the south-west corner of the house. In its entry for the wall, the national database calls it the south heijū-mon and explains that the wall from the main gate runs up to it.
Seeing the Main House
The interior of the Nomura Takao Family Residence Main House is open, so you can step up close to the entrance and the rooms. As you come through the gate, the west gable and the shikidai entrance line up in front of you; take in the whole frontage from a few steps back before looking at how small the entrance is and at the wall beside it.
The projecting kitchen wing is easiest to see from the back yard, and the registered well is just to its north-west.
Q&A
- Can you go inside the Nomura Takao Family Residence Main House?
- Yes. The house belongs to Aki City and is open to the public free of charge. The city gives the hours as roughly 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., every day, though they can change in bad weather.
- When was the Nomura Takao Family Residence Main House built and registered?
- The national database dates it to the late Edo period (1830–1867), and the Aki City Tourist Association estimates around 1830. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 12 July 2005.
- What is the layout of the Nomura Takao Family Residence Main House?
- It is a single-storey house of 5 by 4.5 ken with a shikidai entrance in the middle of the west gable. Rooms of 4.5, 4 and 6 mats (the last with an alcove) run along the south, rooms of 4.5 and 6 mats along the north, and a kitchen wing projects to the north-west.
- What is the musha-kakushi at the Nomura Takao Family Residence Main House?
- It is a short wall beside the entrance, about 90 centimetres (3 shaku) wide according to local guides. Together with the deliberately small 3-mat entrance hall, it is presented as a defensive feature of the house.
- Why is the Nomura Takao Family Residence Main House a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It stands in the old samurai quarter south-west of the Aki Doi Castle site and keeps the planning of a warrior's house. It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape.
Basic Information
| Name | Nomura Takao Family Residence Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | 994 Doi, Aki City, Kochi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 12 July 2005 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber building, tiled roof, building area 98 square metres, with 2 garden gates |
| Owner | Aki City |
| Public Access | Open (free, about 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily) |
References
- 野村隆男家住宅主屋 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00004842
- 野村隆男家住宅主屋 (Cultural Heritage Online)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/170152
- Nomura Family Residence and Doi Kakuchu (Kochi Visitors & Convention Association)
- https://kochi-tabi.jp/search_spot_activity.html?id=16472
- Doi Kakuchu Samurai Residences (Aki City Tourist Association)
- https://www.akikanko.or.jp/kanko/doikatyu.html
Last verified: 2026.09.29
