Miyazawa Family Residence Barn and Former Chicken Coop

About the Miyazawa Family Residence Barn and Former Chicken Coop

The Miyazawa Family Residence Barn and Former Chicken Coop (宮澤家住宅納屋・旧鶏小屋, Miyazawa-ke Jūtaku Naya, Kyū-Niwatorigoya) is a single-story timber outbuilding of around 1920 at 3042 Misato Akemori, Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture, entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 1998. It has a tiled roof and a building area of 50 square meters.

The building encloses the northeast part of the estate. The former chicken coop stands beside the kabukimon back gate on the north, and the barn continues south from it, the two forming one long, narrow structure.

Outbuildings Dressed as a Wall

The barn runs along a water channel that marks the edge of the property. Like the coop, it is built in Shinkabe style with the posts left exposed; the lower walls are clad in vertical boards, and the horizontal Nuki tie beams linking the posts show on the outside.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs explains that the barn is made to look like a roofed wall from outside. At the front, stone and roofed walls enclose the estate from east to south; at the back, in the northeast, the outbuildings themselves do the job of a wall. The Miyazawa Family Residence Barn and Former Chicken Coop completes the enclosure.

No published source says how many hens the coop held or when it went out of use. The word "former" in the registered name tells us it no longer served as a coop by the time of registration.

Why the Barn and Coop Were Registered

The Miyazawa Family Residence Barn and Former Chicken Coop was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. Built around 1920, the same period as the kabukimon gate, it reflects the working side of the household before the main house was rebuilt.

Its low, long run of exposed timber along the channel continues the line from the kabukimon gate and shapes the northeast edge of the estate. It has none of the main house's polish, but it does a great deal to set the look of the property from outside.

Seeing the Miyazawa Barn and Former Chicken Coop

The Miyazawa barn and coop stand on the northeast edge of the estate, and their outer walls can be seen from outside. Look for the vertical boarding, the exposed tie beams and the way the building runs on from the kabukimon gate.

No official information about opening the interior could be found as of September 2026. Take care not to step onto the property along the channel. No guidance on photography was found.