A Townhouse Facing the Hase Kaidō
The Former Hosokawa Family Residence Main House (旧細川家住宅主屋, Kyū Hosokawa-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) at 136 Shinmachi, Nabari City, Mie Prefecture, is an early Meiji-period merchant townhouse that was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on January 8, 2009.
It was the principal building of the Nabari house kept by the Hosokawa, a family of medicine merchants from Ōuda in Nara, and it faces north onto the Hase Kaidō, the old road between Hasedera Temple and the Ise Grand Shrine. The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives its frontage as 9.7 meters and its depth as 13 meters. It is a 2-story timber building with a gabled roof of interlocking pan tiles, and its ridge runs parallel to the street so that the eaves, not the gable, face passers-by. This street-facing arrangement is called hirairi. The building area is 119 square meters; Nabari City records the total floor area, upper floor included, as 167.42 square meters.
Sources differ on the date. The Agency for Cultural Affairs places the Main House in the early Meiji period, while Nabari City says it was built between the late Edo period and the first years of Meiji. The city renovated it in 2008, and it became the heart of the Yanase-shuku visitor center.
Why It Was Registered
The Former Hosokawa Family Residence Main House was registered under the criterion of serving as a model of design. It holds registration number 24-0074, the first of the four numbers given to the property. The gate was registered on the same grounds, while the two storehouses were chosen for what they add to the historic landscape.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the Main House as a hirairi townhouse that keeps the feel of the old post town. The reasons lie in the street front, which gathers the standard elements of a Japanese machiya in one facade: wooden lattices on the ground floor, a clay-plastered upper story pierced by mushiko-mado windows, and a firewall wing called an udatsu at each end. Nabari City adds that the upper floor is a low tsushi-nikai, which completes the set.
Lattices, Mushiko Windows and Udatsu
Stand in front of the Former Hosokawa Family Residence Main House and compare the lattices from one side of the ground floor to the other. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that they are of different designs. The thickness of the slats, their spacing and the point where the pattern changes all vary, so a single facade shifts character as you walk along it.
Look up and the upper story is sealed in clay plaster, a finish known as nurigome, with rows of mushiko-mado: small openings filled with thick vertical bars, named for their resemblance to insect cages. A tsushi-nikai was generally a low upper floor used for storage or for servants to sleep in, and from the street you can see how short this story is compared with the one below.
At each end of the facade rises an udatsu. These side walls were built on the boundary with the neighbors to stop fire from spreading, and they are also said to have signaled a family's standing. Because the facade faces north, it rarely takes direct sun, so the shadows of lattice and udatsu change little through the day and the outlines stay easy to read.
Three Rooms Along an Earthen Passage
Inside, the Former Hosokawa Family Residence Main House has three rooms in a row beside a tori-doma, an earth-floored passage running from the street to the back of the lot. Nabari City's renovation papers name them, from the front, the mise-no-ma (shop room), the naka-no-ma (middle room) and the oku-no-ma (inner room), with a formal step at the middle room and a wide veranda beyond the inner room.
Customers were met in the front room, and the family's space deepened toward the back, a sequence typical of merchant houses on a busy road. Behind the Main House lies the courtyard, with the middle storehouse on its south side, so the shop and the storehouses were linked by the earthen passage and the garden.
Visiting the Main House
The Former Hosokawa Family Residence Main House has been closed since April 1, 2026, while the property is renovated for up to one year, and the interior cannot be entered. Before the closure, the rooms from the shop room to the inner room were used for rentals and lunches. How much of the interior will be open after the reopening depends on the new operator.
The exterior remains visible. Standing on the far side of the Hase Kaidō, you can take in the lattices, mushiko windows and both udatsu in one view. Please photograph from the public road without blocking cars or pedestrians, and check on-site notices about photography inside once the building reopens.
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- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Former Hosokawa Family Residence Main House
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Q&A
- Can I go inside the Former Hosokawa Family Residence Main House now?
- No. It has been closed for renovation since April 1, 2026, for up to one year. Nabari City will announce the reopening on its website.
- Can I see the Former Hosokawa Family Residence Main House from outside during the closure?
- Yes. The facade faces the Hase Kaidō, so the lattices, mushiko windows and udatsu can be seen from the road.
- When was the Former Hosokawa Family Residence Main House built and registered?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the early Meiji period; Nabari City says late Edo to early Meiji. It was registered on January 8, 2009, as number 24-0074.
- What should I look for at the Former Hosokawa Family Residence Main House?
- The ground-floor lattices of varied design, the large mushiko windows in the plastered upper story, and the udatsu at both ends. Inside, three rooms line an earth-floored passage.
- How big is the Former Hosokawa Family Residence Main House?
- It is a 2-story timber building 9.7 meters wide and 13 meters deep, with a building area of 119 square meters and a gabled, tiled roof.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Hosokawa Family Residence Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | 136 Shinmachi, Nabari City, Mie Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Year Designated | Registered January 8, 2009 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2 stories, tiled roof; building area 119 square meters (frontage 9.7 m, depth 13 m) |
| Owner | Nabari City |
| Public Access | Closed for renovation (from 2026, up to 1 year); exterior visible from the Hase Kaido |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Former Hosokawa Family Residence Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00007505
- Former Hosokawa Residence Yanase-shuku, Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Nabari City, Japanese)
- https://www.city.nabari.lg.jp/s044/010/050/10/070/090/270/20150401085353.html
- Call for proposals and selection result for the use of Yanase-shuku (Nabari City, Japanese)
- https://www.city.nabari.lg.jp/s044/010/050/10/20250521154708.html
- Appendix 2: Planned works for the proposed use (Nabari City, Japanese PDF)
- https://www.city.nabari.lg.jp/s044/010/050/10/bessi-2.kouji.pdf
- Temporary closure of Yanase-shuku for renovation (Nabari City, Japanese)
- https://www.city.nabari.lg.jp/s044/010/050/10/070/090/20191011144419.html
Last verified: 2026.09.29
