Hatakoshi Family Residence Barn

What the Hatakoshi Family Residence Barn Is

The Hatakoshi Family Residence Barn (波多腰家住宅納屋, Hatakoshi-ke Jūtaku Naya) is a single-storey timber barn 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 20-0039.

It stands against the east end of the rice storehouse, a long building running east to west, 9 ken across the front, with a building area of 58 square metres under a gabled roof of pantiles. Matsumoto City dates it on stylistic grounds to the later Meiji era.

Nine Bays in Three Rooms

The Hatakoshi Family Residence Barn was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. It fills the long middle stretch of the storehouse row, linking the rice storehouse to the storehouse at the east end.

The structure is simple and easy to read. Posts stand 1 ken apart, and five tiers of horizontal tie beams (nuki) run through them, giving a tall single storey with high eaves.

Inside, partitions every 3 ken divide it into three storage rooms with earthen floors. On the south front, the westernmost 1 ken of each room is the doorway, and the other 2 ken have vertical board panelling below. It is a working building, made for sorting tools and harvest room by room.

The Rhythm of the Front

Stand before the south front and the pattern is clear. With a doorway opening at the start of each room of 3 ken, the doors fall in the 1st, 4th and 7th bays counting from the west, with 2 ken of boarding between each pair.

Look also at the grid of posts and ties. Posts 1 ken apart and five tiers of beams make a lattice that sets out the long wall in regular squares.

Against the two-storey bulk of the rice storehouse next door, the barn's long, low horizontal line is one of the pleasures of the storehouse row.

Visiting the Hatakoshi Family Residence Barn

The barn is part of a private home and the interior is not open. It stands in the working yard north of the main house, closed off from the forecourt by a fence and gate. Stay off the property and look only from outside it.

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