Kokawa Family Residence Main House

About the Kokawa Family Residence Main House

The Kokawa Family Residence Main House (粉川家住宅主屋, Kokawa-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a single-storey timber house built in 1923 in Takabatakecho, Nara City, Nara Prefecture, and entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 7, 2008. It has a tiled roof and a building area of 290 m².

Of the six registered Kokawa structures, this is the home itself, set in the east half of the center of the plot. The Agency for Cultural Affairs closes its note on it by calling it a fine example of a modern Japanese-style house, finished to a high standard inside and out.

Three Wings Around a U

Although the Kokawa main house is registered as one building, it is made up of three wings. A Zashiki reception wing lies to the north, an entrance wing to the west and a kitchen wing to the south, and together they form a U.

Each part of household life gets its own wing: the entrance for receiving callers, the zashiki for entertaining them, the kitchen for daily work. The space the three wings enclose is the private heart of the Kokawa Family Residence Main House, out of sight of the road.

South of the kitchen wing stands the storehouse, and beyond it the annex and the front gate. From the main house the buildings step down, one after another, toward the street.

A Reception Wing Set at Staggered Angles

The most carefully finished part of the Kokawa Family Residence Main House is the reception wing on the north side. It has an Irimoya-zukuri hip-and-gable roof in Sangawara-buki pantiles and a Tsushi-nikai, the low half-height upper floor found in many town houses. Around the eaves runs a Geya lean-to roof sheathed in copper, a thin metal skirt beneath the heavy tiles.

In plan the rooms are staggered, each set slightly back from the last like a flight of geese, an arrangement known in Japanese as gankō. The Agency explains this as a response to the view to the northwest. From this rise in Takabatake, the rooms are laid out to face the landscape.

The registration lists the structure as single-storey, but the reception wing carries that low upper floor. The bulk of the house stays at one level, with extra height given only to the rooms for guests.

Why the Kokawa Main House Was Registered

The Kokawa Family Residence Main House was registered as a model of design. The other five Kokawa structures on the estate were all registered for their contribution to the historic landscape; the main house alone was recognized for its architecture.

That judgment rests on a single phrase in the Agency's note: a fine modern Japanese-style house, inside and out. A hip-and-gable reception wing, a staggered plan turned toward the view and copper-clad eaves were found to set a standard for modern houses in the traditional manner, built here in 1923.

Seeing the Kokawa Family Residence Main House

The Kokawa Family Residence Main House is a private home, and its interior is not open to the public (checked October 2026). It stands inside the plot, with the stone wall, front gate, annex and storehouse between it and the road to the south. The reception wing on the north side is the farthest point from the street, so the staggered plan cannot really be seen from outside. There is no official guidance on photography, so avoid capturing the private home. Directions to the estate are on the Kokawa Family Residence page.