A Soy Brewer's Town House on the Hase Kaido
The Ogawa Family Residence Main House (小川家住宅主屋) is a merchant town house of the late Edo period in Sakakimachi, Nabari City, Mie Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on October 27, 2017 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The Agency records a single-storey timber house with a tiled roof and a building area of 209 square metres, dated to the late Edo period (1830–1868) and altered in about 1955 and about 1975; registration number 24-241.
The structural field says single-storey, yet the Agency's own commentary calls the Ogawa Family Residence Main House a tsushi-nikai house, one with a low loft-like upper floor. The two descriptions most likely count the same low storey differently.
Shop and Dwelling Behind a Wide Front
The Ogawa Family Residence Main House (小川家住宅主屋, Ogawa-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a Machiya seven and a half bays wide that faces east onto the Hase Kaido (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Mie Prefecture's documents say the Ogawa family came from Koka, settled in Sakakimachi in 1616 and brewed soy sauce here until 1948, and that the main house was built as a shop and dwelling in one.
Inside, the rooms stand in three rows beside the earthen-floored Doma (Agency for Cultural Affairs). For a town house that is a broad plan as well as a deep one: the width of the front shows directly in the number of rooms. The passage from the entrance runs through the house to the east and west storehouses and the old brewing yard behind (Mie Prefecture).
A local newspaper reports that once brewing stopped the Ogawa Family Residence Main House was altered to serve as an ironworks office (Iga Town Joho YOU). How that relates to the two alterations recorded by the Agency could not be confirmed.
Why It Was Registered
The Ogawa Family Residence Main House was registered as contributing to the historic landscape of the country (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency calls it a large town house of the late Edo period, and Mie Prefecture says it still shows the house as it was when the soy sauce trade prospered.
Its worth to the streetscape lies in the full seven-and-a-half-bay front kept on the road, lattices included.
The Reception Room
The formal room of the Ogawa Family Residence Main House looks onto an inner garden and has an alcove post made from a log with its knots left standing (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Leaving the knots on such a post is a taste associated with the informal sukiya manner.
Mie Prefecture adds that the eight-mat guest room has a built-in writing alcove and a Tokonoma. Trade was done on the earthen floor at the front; guests were received in the matted room at the back, under the same roof.
What to Look For
On the front of the Ogawa Family Residence Main House, the two bays at the south end carry a projecting lattice bay, and the low upper storey has barred windows (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Walk from the south end northward and compare the two latticed bays with the five and a half beyond.
The roof is tiled. The reception room and its alcove post cannot be seen from the street.
Visiting
The Ogawa Family Residence Main House is a private home, and no official information on interior access was found; a 2017 report says the owners live in it. Viewing is limited to the exterior from the Hase Kaido, and nothing is published about photography.
Directions from Nabari Station are given on the page for the Ogawa Family Residence (Nabari).
Q&A
- When was the Ogawa Family Residence Main House built?
- In the late Edo period; the Agency for Cultural Affairs gives 1830–1868. It was altered in about 1955 and about 1975.
- Can I go inside the Ogawa Family Residence Main House?
- It is a private home and no information on interior access was found. It is viewed from the Hase Kaido.
- Is the Ogawa Family Residence Main House one storey or two?
- The Agency's structural field says single-storey timber, while its commentary describes a low upper storey (tsushi-nikai).
- What should I look for at the Ogawa Family Residence Main House?
- The projecting lattice across the two southern bays and the barred windows above, on a front seven and a half bays wide.
- When was the Ogawa Family Residence Main House registered?
- On October 27, 2017 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Basic Information
| Name | Ogawa Family Residence Main House (小川家住宅主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1404-2 Sakakimachi, Nabari City, Mie Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2017/10/27 (Heisei 29) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, single-storey (described as having a low upper storey), tiled roof, building area 209 m² |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | Private home (interior not open; exterior only) |
References
- Ogawa Family Residence Main House (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00011970
- Ogawa Family Residence Main House (Cultural Heritage Online, Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/245888
- Recommendation for new registration of tangible cultural properties (Mie Prefecture, Japanese)
- https://www.pref.mie.lg.jp/TOPICS/m0046300059.htm
- Outline of the properties recommended in Mie (Mie Prefectural Board of Education, Japanese)
- https://www.pref.mie.lg.jp/common/content/000738202.pdf
- Three Nabari buildings added to the register (Iga Town Joho YOU, Japanese)
- https://www.iga-younet.co.jp/news1/2017/07/3-51.html
Last verified: 2026.11.11
