One Building, Two Street Fronts
The Former Ryokan Kokonoe Main Building (旧料理旅館九重本館, Kyū Ryōri Ryokan Kokonoe Honkan) is the core building of a former dining inn in Ueno Nishihinatamachi, Iga City, Mie Prefecture, adapted from townhouses of around 1924 and extended around 1943; it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2018. It is a timber building of two stories with a partial third story under a tiled roof, with a building area of 317 square meters.
The Main Building occupies most of the T-shaped plot of the Former Ryokan Kokonoe, in what was the merchants' quarter of the old Ueno castle town. Its defining trait is that it looks like two different buildings depending on where you stand. On the street running east to west it keeps the face of a traditional machiya townhouse. On the street running north to south, behind it, it takes the form of a residence set back behind a front garden.
A ryōri ryokan was an inn whose trade centered on meals and banquets in tatami rooms rather than on lodging. The Kokonoe Main Building shows how such a business could grow out of ordinary merchant houses.
Why the Kokonoe Main Building Was Registered
The Former Ryokan Kokonoe Main Building was entered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) on May 10, 2018, as number 24-249. It was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that the building was converted from earlier townhouses, and that it keeps the townhouse exterior on the east-west street while adopting a residential manner on the north-south street. It describes the result as a building that conveys the history and transformation of the castle town. Put simply, the shift from a street of merchant houses to a Shōwa-era banqueting inn can still be read in a single structure.
A local newspaper report of 2018 adds the sequence. Kokonoe began by acquiring two adjoining townhouses built around 1924, and around 1943 it added a partly three-story building containing a large banquet hall. The two townhouses would account for the face on the east-west street, and the wartime extension for the side facing the north-south street.
What to Look For at the Kokonoe Main Building
On the east-west street, look at the townhouse front. The newspaper singled out the timber lattice and the board siding fixed with vertical battens (oshibuchi shitami) that survive on the exterior of the north wing, along with an elaborate handrail at the second-floor glass windows and a small box for holding prayer talismans.
Walk around to the north-south street and the mood changes. Past the gate and wall lies a front garden, with the Main Building set back beyond it. Where the townhouse side presses up to the street, this side shows the building across open ground, in the manner of a gentleman's residence.
The partial third story belongs to the extension of around 1943. That height, and the banquet hall within it, are the clearest sign of the scale at which the Former Ryokan Kokonoe once entertained.
Seeing the Kokonoe Main Building
No interior viewing of the Former Ryokan Kokonoe Main Building is advertised (as of October 2026). The 2018 report said that after the inn closed in 1998, part of the Main Building continued in use as an eatery, but no official notice could be found to confirm whether that is still the case.
The exterior can be seen from both streets: the townhouse front from the east-west street, and the residence side from in front of the gate and wall on the north-south street. No photography rules are posted, but this is private property, so stay outside and keep the entrances clear.
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- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Former Ryokan Kokonoe Main Building
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Q&A
- When was the Former Ryokan Kokonoe Main Building built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to around 1924, with an extension of around 1943. According to a local newspaper, the inn began in two townhouses built around 1924 and added a partly three-story wing with a large banquet hall around 1943.
- When was the Former Ryokan Kokonoe Main Building registered as a cultural property?
- It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) on May 10, 2018, as number 24-249.
- What is distinctive about the Kokonoe Main Building's exterior?
- It keeps a traditional townhouse front on the east-west street, while the side facing the north-south street is laid out like a residence with a front garden. The one building presents two different faces.
- Can visitors go inside the Former Ryokan Kokonoe Main Building?
- No interior viewing is advertised. A 2018 report said part of the building was in use as an eatery, but this could not be confirmed from an official source. The exterior is visible from the street.
- How large is the Former Ryokan Kokonoe Main Building?
- It is a timber building of two stories with a partial third story, with a tiled roof and a building area of 317 square meters.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Ryokan Kokonoe Main Building (旧料理旅館九重本館) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1773 Ueno Nishihinatamachi and others, Iga City, Mie Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered May 10, 2018 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2 stories with a partial 3rd story, tiled roof, building area 317 square meters |
| Owner | Unknown (not listed in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database) |
| Public Access | No interior viewing; exterior visible from the street |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Former Ryokan Kokonoe Main Building
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00012379
- Agency for Cultural Affairs: Registration of Tangible Cultural Properties (Structures), March 9, 2018 (PDF, Japanese)
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/yukei_kenzobutsu/pdf/r1392281_30.pdf
- Iga Town Joho YOU: Former Ryokan Kokonoe to Become a Registered Cultural Property (March 9, 2018, Japanese)
- https://www.iga-younet.co.jp/news1/2018/03/post-460.html
Last verified: 2026.10.16
