What the Former Clinic Is
The Yokoyama Family Residence Former Clinic (横山家住宅旧診療所, Yokoyama-ke Jūtaku Kyū-shinryōjo) in Oaza Komono, Komono Town, Mie Prefecture, is a single-storey timber building of the late Meiji period (1898 to 1912), altered in 1945 and registered as a Tangible Cultural Property on April 3, 2020. It covers 59 square meters.
It stands east of the main house with its ridge running north to south, under a pantiled hipped roof (Yosemune-zukuri, Sangawara-buki), with a tiled lean-to (Geya) along the west side serving as a corridor.
Among the Japanese-style buildings of the estate, this is the one with a Western air, and the walls are what catch the eye first.
Walls Like Fish Scales
Up to about waist height, the walls of the Yokoyama Family Residence Former Clinic are clad in wooden shingles laid in a fish-scale pattern; above that the boards run vertically. Shingles are thin boards lapped one over another, and with their ends rounded they read like the scales of a fish. Komono Town names this scaled wall as the building's defining feature.
The eaves are shaped to a curved section and sealed in Shikkui plaster. It is a Japanese frame, a tiled hipped roof, wearing a Western-style skin. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that its distinctive exterior draws attention. It is register no. 24-0279, registered under the historic landscape criterion.
Yokoyama Yoji writes that someone who was treated here after the war told him the building then had the feel of a Western house.
Its Years as a Clinic
Inside, from south to north, are the former waiting room, the former consulting room and the former X-ray room. The sequence of rooms is itself the record of its clinic years.
Komono Town says the building was used as a clinic from 1945. According to the family essay, the family evacuated from Nagoya to Komono before the war grew worse, and the head of the family, a surgeon who returned from service abroad, went on treating patients in Komono for about 5 years after the war. The family moved back to Nagoya in 1950.
The same essay records that in the Taisho period, when a family member stood for the national House of Representatives, this building served as something like a campaign office.
Seeing the Former Clinic
The interior of the Yokoyama Family Residence Former Clinic is not open on a regular basis. The scaled walls are on the east side of the estate and can be seen close up when you are inside the grounds at an event.
Conditions vary from event to event, so check the Yokoyama Family Residence group page before booking.
Q&A
- When was the Yokoyama Family Residence Former Clinic built?
- In the late Meiji period (1898 to 1912), with alterations in 1945. It was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property on April 3, 2020.
- What is special about the walls of the Yokoyama Family Residence Former Clinic?
- The lower walls are clad in wooden shingles laid like fish scales, with vertical boards above, and the eaves are rounded and sealed in plaster.
- What rooms are inside the Yokoyama Family Residence Former Clinic?
- From south to north, a former waiting room, consulting room and X-ray room.
- When was the Yokoyama Family Residence Former Clinic used as a clinic?
- Komono Town says from 1945. The family records that a surgeon of the family practiced here for about 5 years after the war.
- Can visitors see the Yokoyama Family Residence Former Clinic?
- Only at reservation-only events, and whether the interior is shown depends on the event.
Basic Information
| Name | Yokoyama Family Residence Former Clinic (横山家住宅旧診療所) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2657 Aza Nakazato, Oaza Komono, Komono Town, Mie District, Mie Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building), register no. 24-0279 |
| Year Designated | Registered April 3, 2020 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey wooden building, tiled roof, building area 59 square meters |
| Owner | Waiwai Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Not open regularly. By reservation at events |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Yokoyama Family Residence Former Clinic (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00013264
- Cultural Heritage Online: Yokoyama Family Residence Former Clinic
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/445173
- Registered Cultural Property: Yokoyama Family Residence (Komono Town, in Japanese)
- https://www2.town.komono.mie.jp/site/kankou/2028.html
- Komono Cultural Properties Newsletter, Issue 34 (Komono Town Board of Education)
- https://www2.town.komono.mie.jp/uploaded/attachment/5102.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.27
