A Big Farmhouse Where Thatch Meets Tile
The Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Main House and Okujodan is the late Edo core of a silkworm-egg producer's estate in Kamishiojiri, Ueda, Nagano Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on June 24, 2021. In Japanese it is 佐藤家住宅（三ツ引）主屋及び奥上段, Satō-ke Jūtaku (Mitsubiki) Omoya oyobi Okujōdan. With a footprint of 288 square meters, it is described by the Agency for Cultural Affairs as a large-scale farmhouse.
The main house stands on the north side of the lot, facing south. Its western half is single-story under a thatched hip roof (Yosemune-zukuri, Kayabuki), now temporarily sheathed in sheet metal. Its eastern half rises two stories under a gabled tile roof carrying two raised ventilation roofs, koshi-yane. To the northwest is the okujodan, another thatched, hip-roofed single-story wing that holds the formal reception rooms, the Zashiki.
The house dates from the late Edo period, between about 1751 and 1830. It was altered at the end of Edo and enlarged and remodeled again in the early Showa era. According to Ueda City, the main house and okujodan were extended during the boom in the egg trade between late Edo and Meiji, and the estate appears, as the residence of the egg producer Sato Onoshichi, in a book of copperplate views published in 1897.
Why It Was Registered
The registration criterion is contribution to the historic landscape of the country. What makes the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Main House and Okujodan stand out is that two very different parts are joined under one ridge line.
The western half is the living quarters, its raised floor divided into six rooms in three rows under a thatched hip roof, a generous plan in keeping with a family that served as village headman (Shōya).
The eastern half is a two-story tiled block with two koshi-yane on its ridge. These little roofs perched on the main roof open high windows that let heat and humidity escape, and in Kamishiojiri they are the telltale sign of a house where silkworms were raised. Their presence on the two-story block suggests it served the trade. Thatched home and tiled workspace side by side trace how the house changed as the egg business grew.
What to Look For
From the south front, the roof changes character halfway along: a broad, easy-pitched thatched hip to the west, a tiled ridge with its pair of ventilation roofs to the east. The south-facing photographs in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database and on Cultural Heritage Online show this switch clearly.
The thatch is protected for now by a temporary sheet-metal covering, so its texture is hidden, though the form of the great hip roof survives. The okujodan, projecting to the northwest at the back of the house, is the part of the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Main House and Okujodan least visible from the front.
Visiting the Main House
The Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Main House and Okujodan is a private residence, and the interior is not open to the public. It stands on the north side of the lot, and we could not confirm how much of it can be seen from outside the property. We found no published guidance on photography.
Directions to the estate and the story of the whole compound are on the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) page.
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Q&A
- Can you visit the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Main House and Okujodan?
- No. It is a private residence and the interior is not open to the public, and there is no published guidance on photography. Photographs of the exterior are available in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database and on Cultural Heritage Online.
- When was the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Main House and Okujodan built?
- It dates from the late Edo period, between about 1751 and 1830, was altered at the end of Edo and was enlarged and remodeled in the early Showa era. It was registered on June 24, 2021.
- What is the okujodan of the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Main House and Okujodan?
- It is a single-story, thatched, hip-roofed wing on the northwest side of the main house that holds the formal reception rooms.
- What are the small roofs on top of the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Main House and Okujodan?
- They are koshi-yane, raised ventilation roofs with high openings that let heat and damp escape. In Kamishiojiri they are widely seen on houses where silkworms were raised. Two of them sit on the tiled two-story eastern half.
- How big is the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Main House and Okujodan?
- It is a two-story timber building with a footprint of 288 square meters. The western half is single-story with a thatched hip roof under temporary sheet metal; the eastern half is two stories with a gabled tile roof.
Basic Information
| Name | Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Main House and Okujodan |
|---|---|
| Location | 90 Minamigawa, Kamishiojiri, Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2021/6/24 (Reiwa 3) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Wooden, 2 stories, thatched roof (temporarily covered in sheet metal), building area 288 square meters |
| Owner | Private owner (name not published) |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (private residence) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Main House and Okujodan
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013788
- Cultural Heritage Online: Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Main House and Okujodan
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/591490
- Cultural Properties of Ueda City (Ueda Citizens' ICT Promotion Center): Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki)
- https://museum.umic.jp/bunkazai/document2/127.php
Last verified: 2026.09.26
