Hatakoshi Family Residence Ash House

What the Hatakoshi Family Residence Ash House Is

The Hatakoshi Family Residence Ash House (波多腰家住宅灰屋, Hatakoshi-ke Jūtaku Haiya) is a single-storey timber outbuilding of the later Meiji era in the Hata district of Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 28 April 2000 under the number 20-0040.

It stands immediately to the left inside the front gate, its ridge running north to south, and meets the miso storehouse at a right angle at its north end. The plan is 3 and a half ken by 2 ken, the building area 20 square metres, under a gabled roof of pantiles. Matsumoto City dates it to the later Meiji era.

A haiya, or ash house, was where a farming household kept the ash from its hearth and cooking stoves. Ash was a resource, used as fertiliser, in dyeing and for washing, and because it could hold live embers, the store was usually built apart from the main house.

Two Kinds of Wall under One Roof

The Hatakoshi Family Residence Ash House was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. It is one of the first buildings seen on passing through the front gate, and it shapes the entrance to the compound.

The building faces west. Its southernmost 1 ken is in shinkabe construction, with posts and tie beams left exposed in the wall. North of the doorway the wall changes to the thick plastered kind that hides the posts, standing on a base of laid stone.

Exposed timber on one side of the door, sealed earth and stone on the other: given what the building was for, it is fair to read the solid northern half as a precaution against fire and damp.

What to Look For

From the west front, watch the wall change character. At the south end, posts and beams draw a grid; north of the door, white plaster rises from a stone base.

Look closely at that stone base. It takes the damp and splash from the ground and gives the wall a firm footing.

Then note the right angle it makes with the miso storehouse at its north end. Together the two buildings form an L and enclose the corner to the left of the front gate.

Visiting the Hatakoshi Family Residence Ash House

The ash house is part of a private home and the interior is not open. As it stands inside the front gate, do not enter the property; look only from outside it.

Directions and viewing conditions for the whole compound are on the Hatakoshi Family Residence page.