Hiramatsu Family Residence Silkworm Rearing House

A Two-Wing Silk House under Raised Ridge Vents

The Hiramatsu Family Residence Silkworm Rearing House (平松家住宅蚕室, Hiramatsu-ke Jūtaku Sanshitsu) is a two-storey timber building for raising silkworms in Obuse, Nagano Prefecture, built in the late Meiji era, enlarged in the Taisho era, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 28 October 2011. The national database dates the original building to 1898 to 1912 and the extension to 1912 to 1926.

It occupies the south-east corner of the plot, facing north into the compound. With a building area of 172 square metres it is the second-largest building at the Hiramatsu Family Residence after the main house, and its registration includes an attached gate and wall.

Two Wings of Different Sizes

Although registered as 1 building, the Hiramatsu Family Residence Silkworm Rearing House consists of 2 wings. One measures 10.9 by 4.5 metres; the other, a size larger, measures 12.8 by 5.5 metres.

Both have gabled roofs (Kirizuma-zukuri) in pan tiles (Sangawara-buki), each topped by a koshi-yane, a small raised roof straddling the ridge. The koshi-yane leaves a ventilation gap at the top of the roof; in silk houses it typically let out damp air and the smoke of the fires lit to keep the rearing rooms warm.

Given that the building went up in the late Meiji years and was enlarged under Taisho, the 2 differently sized wings may well correspond to those 2 phases. The primary sources, however, do not say which wing is the extension.

Height and Openings Shaped by Silk

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the Hiramatsu Family Residence Silkworm Rearing House as distinctive for its height and its large openings. Rearing silkworms demands headroom for racks of trays stacked many tiers high, and big windows to bring in air and light. The tall two-storey form and wide openings answer those needs directly.

The main house and storehouses go back to the late Edo period; the silkworm rearing house belongs to the Meiji and Taisho years, when sericulture was booming. The Hiramatsu household built a work building of this size in the corner of its compound and then extended it. Its sheer scale is the clearest measure of how much silk mattered to the family.

It was registered as contributing to the historic landscape of the country.

What to Look for at the Hiramatsu Family Residence Silkworm Rearing House

The Hiramatsu Family Residence Silkworm Rearing House closes the east end of the row of buildings along the road. From outside, the first things to register are the raised ridge vents and the unusual height of the upper floor.

The ridge vents read better from a little distance, so step back and follow the roofline. The main face of the building looks north into the compound, and the interior is not open. The grounds cannot be entered; viewing is from the road only.

Directions and the general conditions for visiting are on the Hiramatsu Family Residence page.