Naito Family Residence Main House

The Main House of a Headman's Family

The Naito Family Residence Main House (内藤家住宅主屋) is the main house of an old farming family of the early Meiji era (1868–1882) in Ikedacho, Nara City, Nara Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on August 7, 2023 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey timber house with a tiled roof and a building area of 221 square metres, built in the early Meiji era and altered in the late Meiji era and again around 1965; registration number 29-0353.

A North-Facing House under a Gabled Roof

The Naito Family Residence Main House stands at the northern edge of a former moated village in the Nara Basin and faces north (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Its roof is gabled and tiled with pantiles, entered on the long side; over the earth-floored Doma at the east end, the roof steps down into a lower hip-and-gable section, an arrangement called Ochimune, and a lean-to Geya roof runs round the house.

Inside, the doma is divided north and south, and six living rooms are laid out west of it in two rows of three (Agency for Cultural Affairs). There is no formal Zashiki with an alcove in the house itself; that room was placed in a separate annex, which the Agency reads as an old-fashioned arrangement. The annex is not part of the registration.

The house sits at the centre of the compound. From the nagayamon gate at the northeast corner, a front yard leads to it, and a formal garden lies on its north side, divided from the front yard by the middle gate (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Was Registered

The Agency singles out the sturdy, high-quality timber used throughout and registered the house for its contribution to the historic landscape. Nara City counts it among the largest farmhouses in the city.

According to Nara City, the Naito family held the rank of village headman in the Edo period and later supplied mayors of Obitoke Town. Keeping the formal reception room in a separate annex is one clue to how such a household lived and received guests.

What to Look For

Look at the roofline. At the east end the gabled roof drops to a lower hip-and-gable section over the doma (Agency for Cultural Affairs), so the step in the roof marks where the earth floor gives way to the raised living rooms.

The generous use of thick posts and beams is another feature the Agency notes. Nara City's cultural properties page shows photographs of the front and of the interior.

Visiting

The Naito Family Residence Main House is a private home, and no official information on viewing the interior was found. The house stands inside the nagayamon gate.