What the Kodama Family Residence Main House Is
The Kodama Family Residence Main House is a two-storey timber farmhouse of about 1906 in the Wa district of Tomi City, Nagano Prefecture, added to the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2000 under the number 20-0077.
It stands facing south on the lower slope of a hillside that looks toward the Chikuma River. The national register gives the plan as 15 and a half bays across the front by 6 bays deep, a shape far wider than it is deep, with a building area of 406 square metres. The roof is gabled and laid with pantiles, and a smaller monitor roof rides along the ridge.
Tomi City puts the frontage at 13 and a half bays, and elsewhere describes it as roughly 24 metres. The two sets of figures do not agree, most likely because they are measured from different points, so both are given here.
Why It Was Registered
Of the 12 registered structures in this compound, only two, the main house and the silkworm rearing house, were listed under the criterion that covers buildings serving as a model of design. The remaining ten were listed for contributing to the historic landscape. The Kodama Family Residence Main House belongs to the first group, judged on its architecture rather than its setting.
What earned it that reading is the south front. The house is a sericultural farmhouse, entered on the long side, with the whole upper floor given over to silkworms. Yet the frontage is split: a lean-to roof on the left, and on the right an upper floor pushed forward on projecting beams to form a veranda-like band. Tomi City notes that finding both treatments on one building is unusual.
The monitor roof is working equipment. Rearing rooms build up heat and moisture, and the raised ridge lets both escape. The plan and the roofline were set by the silkworms, not by fashion.
What to Look For
Stand in front of the house after passing through the front gate and compare the two halves of the eaves. On the lean-to side the line sits low and calm; on the beam-carried side the upper floor juts forward and throws a band of shadow across the wall below.
If you are shown the interior, look down. A corridor of long single boards runs toward the reception rooms, and carved transoms fill the openings between the front and inner rooms. The domestic half of this working building was finished with care.
Young larvae were raised on the upper floor. Tomi City records that a cable ran between that floor and the silkworm rearing house behind, carrying mulberry leaves and worms across the slope. Walk round to the rear and the height difference that made the cable useful becomes obvious.
Visiting the Kodama Family Residence Main House
This is a lived-in house rather than an open site. On the days the family café is trading, guided viewing is offered, and that is the one reliable way to see the interior. The schedule shifts, so check before you travel.
For the exterior, the best position is directly inside the front gate. From the public road the storehouse and the wall block most of the building, though the monitor roof stays visible above them. Photographing the outside is fine; ask about the interior and the garden when you are shown around.
Directions, parking and café opening days apply to the whole compound and are set out on the Kodama Family Residence page.
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- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Kodama Family Residence Main House
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Q&A
- When was the Kodama Family Residence Main House built?
- The national register dates it to about 1906. Work on the compound as a whole began in 1893 and a completion ceremony was held in 1910.
- Can you go inside the Kodama Family Residence Main House?
- Not on a walk-in basis, since the house is still lived in. Guided viewing is offered on the days the café inside the compound is open.
- Why is the Kodama Family Residence Main House on the national register?
- It was listed under the criterion for buildings that serve as a model of design, chiefly for the split south front combining a lean-to and a beam-carried veranda on a silkworm farmhouse.
- How large is the Kodama Family Residence Main House?
- The national register gives 15 and a half bays by 6 bays and a building area of 406 square metres over two full storeys. Tomi City gives the frontage as 13 and a half bays.
- How was the main house connected to the silkworm rearing house?
- Young silkworms were raised on the upper floor of the house, and a cable strung to the rearing house behind carried mulberry and worms between the two buildings.
Basic Information
| Name | Kodama Family Residence Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | 7785 Oaza Wa, Tomi City, Nagano Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2000 (Heisei 12) |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | Timber frame, 2 storeys, tile roof, building area 406 square metres |
| Owner | Yamatama Limited Company |
| Public Access | Private residence. Guided viewing on café opening days |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Kodama Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001812
- Tomi City: Kodama Family Residence
- https://www.city.tomi.nagano.jp/category/kenzobutsu/160195.html
Last verified: 2026.09.17
