What the Shibata Family Residence Main House is
The Shibata Family Residence Main House (柴田家住宅主屋, Shibata-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a single-storey timber farmhouse in Ichinashi, Keihoku Toriicho, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, framed in 1912 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on July 8, 2008.
Its tiled roof is a gabled roof with a gentle convex curve (mukuri), and lean-to eaves (Hisashi) run all the way round the building. The house covers 171 square meters and runs east to west, 6.5 ken long by 5 ken deep (a ken is about 1.8 meters). It was renovated in 1997.
Kyoto City reports that the ridge tag and paper offerings from the framing ceremony survive, naming Tanaka Matsunosuke as master carpenter.
Why the Shibata main house was registered
The Shibata Family Residence Main House was registered as a model of good design, the only one of the four structures on the property registered on that ground. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it a high-quality example of a modern farmhouse.
Kyoto City sees its value in the way it keeps the form of a rural farmhouse while taking in features of Kyoto's town houses. The plan belongs to the mountains; the carpentry came from the city.
An earth floor, six rooms and a shrine shelf in the reception room
Inside the Shibata Family Residence Main House, an earth-floored work area (Doma) takes up the west end and six rooms fill the raised floor to the east. Along the front, from the west, come a formal entrance with a low boarding step (Shikidai), an anteroom and the reception room. A guest stepped up at the entrance, passed through the anteroom and was shown into the best room.
The east wall of the reception room holds an alcove (toko), a built-in writing bay (shoin) and a household shrine shelf. Kyoto City explains that the shrine shelf sits beside the alcove because this was once imperial land, and that the arrangement is widespread in the district.
The board-floored room next to the earth floor was originally a tatami room with a sunken hearth (Irori). Above it, an open void that let the smoke escape still reaches up into the roof.
The framing shows the city's influence. Around the earth floor, posts run unbroken from ground to roof in the manner of a Kyoto town house (Machiya), a structural habit carried into a farmhouse plan. The timberwork is coated with red iron-oxide paint (Bengara).
Seeing the Shibata Family Residence Main House
The Shibata Family Residence Main House is a private home, and no interior opening has been announced. The shrine shelf and the smoke void are indoors and cannot be seen from outside.
From the road, expect to see the curved tile roof and the line of the eaves above the earthen wall, but little more. Please stay off the grounds. Directions are on the Shibata Family Residence page.
Q&A
- Can I visit the Shibata Family Residence Main House?
- No public opening or interior visit to the Shibata Family Residence Main House has been announced. It is a private home, so please view it from the road only.
- When was the Shibata Family Residence Main House built, and by whom?
- According to Kyoto City, it was built as the home of Funakoshi Yonekichi, said to have been a local schoolteacher, and its frame was raised in 1912 under the master carpenter Tanaka Matsunosuke.
- Why does the Shibata Family Residence Main House have a shrine shelf in its reception room?
- Kyoto City attributes it to the area's past as imperial land. Shrine shelves set beside the alcove are common in the district.
- How big is the Shibata main house in Keihoku, and how is it laid out?
- It is a single-storey timber house with a building area of 171 square meters, 6.5 by 5 ken. An earth-floored area occupies the west end and six rooms the raised floor to the east.
- Why is the Shibata Family Residence Main House a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered on July 8, 2008, as a model of good design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs regards it as a high-quality modern farmhouse.
Basic Information
| Name | Shibata Family Residence Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | 43 Ichinashi, Keihoku Toriicho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered July 8, 2008 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber building, tiled roof, building area 171 m² |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | No public opening announced |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Shibata Family Residence Main House (Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00007231
- Cultural Heritage Online: Shibata Family Residence Main House (Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/187133
- Kyoto City: Buildings and Gardens of Kyoto, certification of the Shibata house (Japanese)
- https://kyoto-irodoru.city.kyoto.lg.jp/mobile/ukyo/shibatake-n.html
- Kyoto City: Ukyo Ward, list of nationally registered tangible cultural properties (Japanese)
- https://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/bunshi/page/0000005996.html
Last verified: 2026.10.28
