What the Uchino Family Residence Main House is
The Uchino Family Residence Main House (内野家住宅主屋, Uchino-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a 1926 house in the former samurai quarter of Iwanoue-chō, Hirado City, Nagasaki Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2005.
The house stands on the west side of a north-south street and faces east toward it. It is a wooden building, mostly single-storey with a partial second floor, under a hipped Yosemune-zukuri roof laid with Sangawara-buki pantiles, and it covers a building area of 192 m².
The plan falls into three parts. A projecting entrance with an Irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable roof sits at the front. South of it rises the two-storey family wing, and to the north an L-shaped single-storey wing holds the Zashiki reception rooms. The entrance works as the hinge between daily life and the rooms kept for guests.
A Munafuda ridge tablet names the master carpenter as Yonehara Otonosuke, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs cites it in its description. Published sources say nothing further about his other buildings.
Why the Uchino Family Residence Main House was registered
The Uchino Family Residence Main House was registered under the criterion of serving as a model of form. The agency describes it as a modern Japanese-style house that carries on the tradition of samurai residences.
In a samurai household the formal entrance and the reception rooms were the public face of the home. The Uchino house keeps that pattern: the hip-and-gable entrance takes the front, and the reception rooms are set apart from the family quarters in their own single-storey wing. A new house built in 1926 on those principles is what earned the registration.
Its place on the property matters as well. The steps, gate and roadside wall in front keep their late-Edo form, and the Uchino main house went up behind them as a home equal to that frontage. Of the four structures registered together, it is the centrepiece.
What to look for at the Uchino main house
Start with the roofs. The hip-and-gable roof over the entrance projects in front of the main hipped roof, and the meeting of those two shapes gives the front of the Uchino Family Residence Main House its character.
Height is the other clue. Standing in the street and facing west, the two-storey family wing is on your left (south) and the single-storey reception wing on your right (north). The roofline steps down toward the north, mirroring how the rooms inside were divided.
East of the reception wing lies a garden enclosed by a brick wall built at about the same time. The reception rooms look onto it, which suggests the house, garden and wall were planned together.
Visiting the Uchino Family Residence Main House
The Uchino Family Residence Main House is a private home and its interior is not open. What you can see is the entrance framed by the gateposts and the roofs rising above the wall, all from the street. The stone steps in front of the gate belong to the property, so please stay at the bottom.
Keep photographs to the exterior as seen from the road and avoid windows or residents. Background on the garden openings and directions to the property are on the Uchino Family Residence page.
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- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Uchino Family Residence Main House
- [ Gunkanjima Island Landing & Glover Garden Tours ]
Q&A
- When was the Uchino Family Residence Main House built, and who built it?
- It was built in 1926. Its ridge tablet names the master carpenter, Yonehara Otonosuke.
- Can I go inside the Uchino Family Residence Main House?
- No. It is a private home and is not open to the public. You can see the entrance and roofs from the street through the gateposts.
- How is the Uchino Family Residence Main House laid out?
- It is a wooden, mostly single-storey house with a partial second floor and a hipped pantile roof, covering 192 m². A hip-and-gable entrance sits between a two-storey family wing to the south and an L-shaped reception wing to the north.
- Why is the Uchino Family Residence Main House a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered in 2005 as a model of form, recognised as a modern Japanese-style house that continues the tradition of samurai residences.
- Can I photograph the Uchino Family Residence Main House?
- Please limit photographs to the exterior from the road. People live here, so take care not to capture windows or residents.
Basic Information
| Name | Uchino Family Residence Main House (内野家住宅主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1165-1 Iwanoue-chō, Hirado City, Nagasaki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2005-02-09 (Heisei 17) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 192 m² |
| Owner | Private (no owner name in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database) |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (private home; exterior visible from the road) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Uchino Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00004676
- Cultural Heritage Online: Uchino Family Residence Main House
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/180896
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Uchino Family Residence Brick Wall
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00004677
- Agency for Cultural Affairs: Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Buildings)
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/yukei_kenzobutsu/toroku_yukei.html
Last verified: 2026.10.06
