What is the Iioka Family Residence Main House?
The Iioka Family Residence Main House (飯岡家住宅主屋, Iioka-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a large farmhouse of the late Edo period (1751 to 1829) in Motokamitaguchi, Taguchi, in the Murō district of Uda City, Nara Prefecture, and was entered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 10 September 2010.
It is a single-storey timber house under a Kayabuki thatched roof, partly finished with tiles. The building area is 210 square metres, and the house measures 19 metres along the ridge (Ketayuki) by 11 metres deep (Harima). It fills the centre of the homestead.
The Agency cites no ridge tablet or other dated record for its construction, and Uda City, while noting that the date is uncertain, places it in the late Edo period.
Why the Iioka Family Residence Main House was registered
The Iioka Family Residence Main House was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape of the nation. The Agency for Cultural Affairs closes its description by calling it a farmhouse that preserves traces of the takabe-zukuri style.
Takabe-zukuri, also known as Yamatomune, is a farmhouse form common in Nara Prefecture and the surrounding area in which the gable ends of a steep thatched roof are built up as tiled or plastered walls. The Iioka house keeps that treatment on one end only, which is why the Agency speaks of traces rather than of a full example.
Two kinds of gable under one thatched roof
The ridge of the Iioka Family Residence Main House runs north to south, and the two ends are finished differently. The south end is built in the takabe-zukuri manner with a raised gable wall, while at the north end the thatch is carried around in the hipped-and-gabled Irimoya-zukuri form. Uda City describes the roof as irimoya on one side only.
Because one roof combines two forms, the house looks quite different from the south and from the north. The Doma, the earth-floored work area, lies on the south side, which appears to be the front of the house, so it seems the front gable was the one given the takabe treatment. We found no source saying if the north end was hipped from the start or altered later.
A six-room plan and a fine upper room
The raised floor of the Iioka Family Residence Main House follows the Rokumadori plan: six rooms set in two rows of three. Beside the earth-floored area on the south side are rooms including a Zashiki reception room, a Buddhist altar room and a Nando storeroom.
The Agency singles out the kamizashiki, the principal reception room, as finely built. The Nara Shimbun reported at the time of the 2010 recommendation that the carved transom panels (ranma) inside bear the name of their maker, Aino Ihei. For a house said to have lodged travellers of rank, the care given to the guest rooms makes sense.
Visiting the Iioka Family Residence Main House
The Iioka Family Residence Main House is a private home, and no interior opening has been announced. The six rooms, the kamizashiki and the carved transoms cannot be seen from outside.
What a visitor can see is the exterior, and the contrast between the walled south gable and the hipped north end is the thing to look for. We have not confirmed how much of either end is visible from the road, so please stay on the public road and do not enter the grounds. Directions to the homestead are on the Iioka Family Residence page.
Q&A
- Can I visit the Iioka Family Residence Main House?
- No public opening or interior visits to the Iioka Family Residence Main House have been announced. It is a private home, so please view it from the road without entering the grounds.
- When was the Iioka Family Residence Main House built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the late Edo period, 1751 to 1829. The exact year is not known.
- What kind of roof does the Iioka Family Residence Main House have?
- A thatched roof with a north-south ridge. The south end is in the takabe-zukuri style with a raised gable wall, and the north end is hipped and gabled (irimoya).
- How large is the Iioka Family Residence Main House and how is it planned?
- It is a single-storey timber house 19 metres by 11 metres with a building area of 210 square metres. An earth-floored area lies on the south side, and the raised floor has six rooms in two rows of three, including a reception room, an altar room and a storeroom.
- Why is the Iioka Family Residence Main House a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered on 10 September 2010 for its contribution to the historic landscape of the nation. The Agency describes it as a farmhouse that preserves traces of the takabe-zukuri style.
Basic Information
| Name | Iioka Family Residence Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | 1106 Motokamitaguchi, Taguchi, Muro Ward, Uda City, Nara Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | 10 September 2010 (registered) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber, thatched roof partly tiled, building area 210 m², 19 m by 11 m |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | No public opening announced |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Iioka Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008318
- Cultural Heritage Online: Iioka Family Residence Main House
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/217700
- Uda City: Nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Japanese)
- https://www.city.uda.lg.jp/soshiki/41/1088.html
- Uda City: Historic Character of the Former Post Towns on the Ise Roads (PDF, Japanese)
- https://www.city.uda.lg.jp/uploaded/attachment/6597.pdf
- Nara Shimbun: Iioka and Matsuura family residences recommended for registration (17 July 2010, Japanese)
- https://www.nara-np.co.jp/news/20100717104643.html
Last verified: 2026.10.22
