What is the Kuroki Family Residence Main House?
The Kuroki Family Residence Main House (黒木家住宅主屋, Kuroki-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a one-story timber dwelling of the early Taisho period at 4983-4 Komaki, Okobira, in Ebino City, Miyazaki Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on July 23, 2004.
With a building area of 218 square meters, it is the largest of the four buildings registered as the Kuroki Family Residence, and everything else on the property hangs off it. The kitchen wing continues from its northwest side, the zashiki wing is attached at the rear southeast corner, and a corridor runs from the house to the door of the storehouse. Its registration number is 45-0026.
Why the Kuroki main house was registered
The Kuroki Family Residence Main House was registered as a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs closes its description by calling it a fine local example of kindai wafū, the Japanese-style housing that took shape after the Meiji era on traditional timber foundations.
The plan is a large part of that judgment. According to the Agency, the rooms are laid out in two rows along a central corridor, a hallway that lets family and guests reach any room without walking through another. It was a newer way of organizing a Japanese house, and it gave each room a measure of privacy.
At the same time an Engawa, the timber veranda of the traditional house, runs around the outside. With the sliding doors pulled back, rooms and veranda become one open space, and the Agency describes the effect as open. The Kuroki main house keeps both ideas under one roof: inner rooms separated by a corridor, and an outer edge that opens to the garden.
Two hip-and-gable roofs on the west end
The main roof is an Irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable form laid with Sangawara-buki pantiles. From its west gable end projects an entrance porch with an irimoya roof of its own, so a smaller hip-and-gable sits in front of the larger one. The Agency notes that this makes the roofline complex.
Giving the entrance its own roof was a way of marking the door where guests were received, and at the Kuroki Family Residence Main House that door faces west.
Inside, the Agency records good timber and elaborate work around the Tokonoma alcove, in the ceilings and in the fittings such as shoji and fusuma. No public record yet lists the individual materials or details, so the interior is known only through that summary.
Seeing the Kuroki Family Residence Main House
The Kuroki Family Residence Main House is a privately owned home, and no official source offers opening days or a way to book a visit. Assume that the interior is closed. The alcove, ceilings and fittings that the Agency praises are all inside and cannot be seen from the street.
From outside, the part to look for is the west end, where the entrance porch stacks its small hip-and-gable roof in front of the main one. Stay off the property, and since there is no guidance on photography, keep the house's occupants and windows out of any picture.
Q&A
- When was the Kuroki Family Residence Main House built and registered?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the early Taisho period. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on July 23, 2004, under number 45-0026.
- Can I go inside the Kuroki Family Residence Main House?
- No public viewing is offered. The Kuroki Family Residence Main House is a private home, and no official source provides opening days or visit arrangements.
- What is special about the plan of the Kuroki main house?
- Its rooms are set in two rows along a central corridor, and a veranda runs around the outside, combining private inner rooms with an open edge.
- What kind of roof does the Kuroki Family Residence Main House have?
- A hip-and-gable irimoya roof with pantiles. An entrance porch with its own irimoya roof projects from the west gable, giving a complex, layered roofline.
- How large is the Kuroki Family Residence Main House?
- It is a one-story timber building with a building area of 218 square meters, the largest of the four registered buildings of the Kuroki Family Residence.
Basic Information
| Name | Kuroki Family Residence Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | 4983-4 Komaki, Okobira, Ebino City, Miyazaki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered July 23, 2004 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 218 square meters |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | No public viewing announced (private home) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Kuroki Family Residence Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00004304
- Cultural Heritage Online: Kuroki Family Residence Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/117184
Last verified: 2026.10.03
