What the Kodama Family Residence Silkworm Rearing House Is
The Kodama Family Residence Silkworm Rearing House is a two-storey timber building of about 1910 in the Wa district of Tomi City, Nagano Prefecture, entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2000 under the number 20-0079.
It stands on higher ground behind the main house, its ridge running east to west. The plan measures 9 bays by 4, the building area is 145 square metres, and the pantiled gable roof carries a monitor roof like the one on the house.
The ground floor is an earth-floored working space. Upstairs are three rearing rooms of 3 by 4 bays, and a projecting veranda runs along the south side of the upper floor. Nothing here was built for living in.
Why It Was Registered
It shares the main house's listing criterion, the one for buildings that serve as a model of design; the other ten structures in the compound were registered for their part in the historic landscape. The national register calls this building valuable as a record of how a silk-rearing household arranged its compound at the height of the industry.
Rearing houses survive in many parts of Japan. What is less common is finding one still standing among the house, the row house, the drying room and the stable it worked with, each keeping its own job on a single walled site.
What to Look For
The upper veranda is not a viewing platform. Mulberry came in through it and air moved across the rearing rooms because of it, and the projecting floor acts as an eave so the upper openings can stay open in rain.
Look up at the monitor roof from below and the ventilation path above the rearing floor becomes legible. Seen alongside the main house, the two roofs are clearly built on the same reasoning.
In recent years the building has held wine. The owner released a merlot from the family's own vines in 2016, the thick walls and steady temperature that once suited silkworms now suiting barrels.
Visiting the Kodama Family Residence Silkworm Rearing House
The rearing house sits at the back of a private compound and its interior is not open. On café opening days a guided walk brings visitors close to the outside of it; whether the storage rooms can be entered depends on the day.
From outside the compound, the view from the east side of the main house works best, since the building stands higher and its roof and monitor ridge read in one glance.
Directions and viewing conditions for the compound are set out on the Kodama Family Residence page.
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Q&A
- When was the Kodama Family Residence Silkworm Rearing House built?
- The national register dates it to about 1910, the year the compound held its completion ceremony, making it one of the later structures on the site.
- Can visitors enter the Kodama Family Residence Silkworm Rearing House?
- The interior is not open to the public. Guided viewing on café opening days brings you close to the exterior.
- How big is the Kodama Family Residence Silkworm Rearing House?
- It measures 9 bays by 4 with a building area of 145 square metres, and the upper floor holds three rearing rooms of 3 by 4 bays.
- Why is the silkworm rearing house registered?
- It was listed under the criterion for buildings serving as a model of design, as a record of a sericultural household's compound at the industry's height.
- What is the building used for now?
- It has been used as a wine cellar in recent years, and the owner released a merlot from the family's own vines in 2016.
Basic Information
| Name | Kodama Family Residence Silkworm Rearing 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 145 square metres |
| Owner | Yamatama Limited Company |
| Public Access | Inside a private compound; interior shown only on guided viewing |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Kodama Family Residence Silkworm Rearing House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001814
- Tomi City: Kodama Family Residence
- https://www.city.tomi.nagano.jp/category/kenzobutsu/160195.html
Last verified: 2026.09.17
