Timber Money, Turned Into a House
The Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence (旧吉松家住宅, Kyū Yoshimatsu-ke Jūtaku) is a large modern Japanese-style house of 1919 standing at Nishikata in Kushima City, Miyazaki Prefecture, and it was designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan on 2 December 2008. The designation covers five buildings: the main house, the inner storehouse, the store room, the outer bathhouse and the outer storehouse.
The distinction matters here. An Important Cultural Property is a national designation, the tier immediately below National Treasure, and it is applied selectively after expert review. This house had previously been on the lighter register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, entered in February 2004, and was raised to designation four years later.
The criterion cited was the first of the designation standards for buildings: excellence of design.
Three Generations and a Forest
The Yoshimatsu were retainers of the Akizuki, and family tradition holds that they came south to Kushima when the Akizuki were transferred from northern Kyushu to Takanabe in the wake of Hideyoshi's Kyushu campaign of 1586. By the closing years of the Edo period they were village headmen. What changed their circumstances was forestry.
Three men built the fortune. Yoshimatsu Takuzō (1838-1920) served in the Boshin War and the Satsuma Rebellion and became the first head of Fukushima village. His son Chūkei (1865-1937) sat in the prefectural assembly and then in the national Diet. Chūkei's son Tadatoshi (1885-1941) was mayor of Fukushima and also a prefectural assemblyman. The house was raised by the second and third of them, at the point where timber income and political standing met.
The ridge was raised in 1919, and the family lived here until about 1985. The property then stood empty. Kushima City bought it in June 2003, catalogued the documents, books and household objects left inside, and opened it as a museum in April 2007.
What the Rooms Show
The main house is timber, partly of two storeys, and its plan is genuinely complicated: a reception wing, a living wing, a great hall wing, a detached wing, a kitchen wing and an inner drawing room wing, each with its own roof and its own relationship to the garden. The reception wing alone covers 134.29 square metres and the living wing 106.95. Together the buildings occupy a walled plot of roughly 950 tsubo.
Ceilings repay attention more than anything else in the house. The entrance hall has a coffered ceiling. The Western-style drawing room, an unusual inclusion in a house otherwise built in the Japanese manner, carries a raised coffered ceiling, the joinery lifting away from the wall on a curved cove. The Buddhist altar room in the inner drawing room, the staircase to the upper floor, the choice of timber throughout: the family had access to the best wood in the district and used it where it would be seen.
Outside the main house the ancillary buildings survive complete, which is the rarer achievement. The inner storehouse measures 15.96 square metres in plan and rises two storeys with a covered forecourt on its south side. The store room covers 70.53 square metres and is linked by a roofed passage. The outer bathhouse is a single storey of 22.99 square metres, and the outer storehouse, two storeys with a lean-to, covers 40.34 square metres. All are roofed in sangawara pantiles. Two white-plastered storehouses stand out against the timber.
A stone wall runs 66 metres along the old Shibushi highway, and the main gate has an opening of 5.5 metres. These elements complete the enclosure; visitors interested in their exact protective status should ask at the reception desk, since the property has been listed under two different systems over the years.
Practical Matters
Admission is free. The house opens from 9:00 to 17:00 and closes on Tuesdays, moving that closure to Wednesday when the Tuesday is a public holiday, as well as on the day following a public holiday and from 29 December to 3 January. Occasional closures for collection work are announced separately, so a telephone call on 0987-72-6511 before a long journey is worth the trouble.
Getting there is easy by the standards of southern Miyazaki. The house stands beside Kushima City Hall, about three minutes on foot from Kushima Station on the JR Nichinan Line, with parking on site. Most travellers combine it with Cape Toi, where the wild Misaki horses graze on the headland about forty minutes away by car.
Ask about photography at the desk. Take your shoes off, allow an hour, and go on a bright day: the interior depends on daylight coming through the shoji, and the coffered ceilings lose their depth under grey skies.
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Q&A
- Is the Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence open to visitors, and what does it cost?
- Yes. The Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence has been open as a museum since April 2007, from 9:00 to 17:00, and admission is free. It closes on Tuesdays, on Wednesday instead when the Tuesday is a public holiday, on the day after a public holiday, and from 29 December to 3 January.
- Why is the Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence an Important Cultural Property rather than a registered property?
- The Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence was first entered on the register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in February 2004 and then designated an Important Cultural Property on 2 December 2008 under the criterion of excellence of design. Designation is the stronger of the two systems, applied selectively and carrying greater protection.
- How many buildings does the Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence designation cover?
- Five buildings at the Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence are designated: the main house, the inner storehouse, the store room, the outer bathhouse and the outer storehouse. The survival of the ancillary buildings alongside the main house, giving a complete picture of a large modern residence, was central to the assessment.
- Who built the Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence, and when?
- The Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence was raised in 1919 by Yoshimatsu Chūkei and his son Tadatoshi, whose family had served as village headmen in the late Edo period and prospered through forestry and timber from the Meiji era onward. The family lived here until around 1985, and Kushima City acquired the property in 2003.
- How do I reach the Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence?
- The Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence stands next to Kushima City Hall at Nishikata, about three minutes on foot from Kushima Station on the JR Nichinan Line. Parking is available on site, and Cape Toi with its wild horses lies roughly forty minutes away by car.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence (旧吉松家住宅) |
|---|---|
| Location | 5509 Ōaza Nishikata, Kushima City, Miyazaki Prefecture |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (building), designation number 02538; criterion: excellence of design |
| Year Designated | Designated 2 December 2008 (registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in February 2004) |
| Quantity | 5 structures (main house, inner storehouse, store room, outer bathhouse, outer storehouse) |
| Dimensions | Main house: reception wing 134.29 sq m, living wing 106.95 sq m and further wings; store room 70.53 sq m; outer storehouse 40.34 sq m; outer bathhouse 22.99 sq m; inner storehouse 15.96 sq m; site about 950 tsubo; dated 1919 |
| Owner | Kushima City |
| Public Access | Open as a museum, 9:00-17:00, admission free; closed Tuesdays (Wednesday when Tuesday is a holiday), the day after public holidays, and 29 December to 3 January |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence, Store Room
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/102/00004315
- Cultural Heritage Online: Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence, Main House
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/125247
- Kushima City: Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence
- https://www.city.kushima.lg.jp/main/info/cat9/post-121.html
- Kushima City Tourism and Products Association: Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence
- https://kushima-city.jp/sight/look/yoshimatsu.html
Last verified: 2026.08.06
Cultural Treasures in the Same Area
All are within walking distance in the same area, so we recommend visiting them together.
- Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence storage shed 0.00 km
- Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence outdoor bath 0.01 km
- Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence Built-in 0.01 km
- Former Yoshimatsu Family Residence External storage 0.02 km