Former Oana Family Residence Annex

Built for a Patient in 1936

The Former Oana Family Residence Annex (旧小穴家住宅離れ) is an annex built for convalescence of 1936 in Kitafukashi 1-chome, Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on October 31, 2022 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey timber building roofed in tile, with a building area of 32 square metres, altered in 1987; registration number 20-0614.

A Room for Convalescence

The Former Oana Family Residence Annex stands south-east of the main house, at the back of the plot (Agency for Cultural Affairs; Matsumoto City). The Agency records that it was built for tuberculosis convalescence; Matsumoto City adds that Oana Kiichi built it so a member of his family could recover there, with a sickroom, a room for a carer and a toilet.

Ink inscriptions on a beam in the roof space name Oana Kiichi as client and Kajikura Seijiro, a carpenter of the Matsumoto basin, as master builder (Matsumoto City).

Why It Was Registered

The Former Oana Family Residence Annex was registered as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the country (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency calls it a small annex built with real care.

Tenants After the War

Saruta, the next owner, let the Former Oana Family Residence Annex to tenants. Students of Shinshu University lived here, as did families of overseas students at the Suzuki Method music school founded by Suzuki Shinichi (Matsumoto City). It was altered in 1987, and an extension was added on the east side (Agency for Cultural Affairs; Matsumoto City).

What to Look For

Inside the Former Oana Family Residence Annex, two tatami rooms sit either side of a built-in shelf set in the middle of the building (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The ceilings are coved and finished in plaster, edged with timber frames to give a Western look: tatami below and a European-style ceiling above.

Outside, the annex follows the main house, with weatherboarded walls and plastered gable ends (Matsumoto City). The tiled gable roof faces east and west, the extension has a lean-to of sheet metal, and only its east wall is clad in modern siding. The entrance is on the north side (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

The Former Oana Family Residence Annex is privately owned and used as support space by the owner's law office, which does not accept general visitors (notice of July 2022). It stands at the back of the plot, and whether it can be seen from the street has not been checked. Please do not enter the property. Directions are on the Former Oana Family Residence page.