Okahashi Family Residence East Barn and High Wall

About the Okahashi Family Residence East Barn and High Wall

The Okahashi Family Residence East Barn and High Wall (岡橋家住宅東納屋及び高塀, Okahashi-ke Jūtaku Higashi-naya oyobi Takabei) is an early Showa-period barn and roofed wall east of the west barn and garden gate on the Okahashi estate in Ozukucho, Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 17 August 2020 (No. 29-0315).

The east barn is a single-storey timber building of just 17 square metres, the smallest of the fifteen registered Okahashi buildings. Its roof is of the maneki type (Maneki-yane) in Sangawara-buki pantiles, with one slope carried down further than the other.

The high wall runs 7.2 metres from the southern end of the barn's east face and is roofed with tiles. One registration covers both the barn and the wall.

Why the barn and wall were registered

The Okahashi Family Residence East Barn and High Wall was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs credits it with keeping the centre of the estate in good order.

Across the middle of the plot a line of buildings separates the front garden of the main house from the work yard to the north: the detached reception room, the west barn and garden gate, and finally this barn and wall. The east barn ends the line of buildings, and the wall carries the division on where the buildings stop.

The wall has its own small Kirizuma-zukuri gable roof and is finished to match the barn, so that it looks like an extension of it. The result is a single composition out of two very different pieces.

What to look for on the east barn

The north face is the telling side of the Okahashi east barn. It is sliding board doors from end to end, so the whole front can be opened onto the work yard. Inside are three rooms. Tools and produce could be moved straight in and out, which is exactly what a barn on a working estate needed.

The walls show their posts in the Shinkabe manner, finished in Shikkui plaster with a dado of vertical boards (Tateita-bari). The wall repeats the same finish, so white plaster and dark boarding run without a break from barn to wall.

The asymmetric maneki roof gives a building of 17 square metres more presence than its size suggests, and the gable over the wall shows the same care. Even in the service part of the estate, the owners evidently wanted the middle of the plot to look composed.

Visiting the barn and wall

The Okahashi Family Residence East Barn and High Wall stands in the middle of the estate and cannot be seen from the surrounding lanes. The board doors and the three rooms inside are not open to visitors.

The estate is private, and no public openings were announced as of September 2026. Directions and a guide to what is visible from outside are on the Okahashi Family Residence page.