Hoashi Family Branch Residence (Shoseki Furokan) New Reception Wing

What the New Reception Wing Is

The Hoashi Family Branch Residence (Shoseki Furokan) New Reception Wing (帆足家分家住宅（松石不老館）新座敷, shin-zashiki) is a single-story reception wing of the mid-Meiji period in Hetsugi Honmachi, Nakahetsugi, Oita City, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 10 November 2005. It stands west of the main house toward the north, running east to west, 5 bays by 3, under a Yosemune-zukuri roof of pantiles. The building area is 64 square metres.

At its centre is a single 8-mat Zashiki, with a wide Engawa along the south side looking onto an inner garden. The registration includes a gate and wall. From the wing's southwest corner a board fence runs south, opens into a gate, and carries on as far as the bathhouse; both gate and fence wear tiled caps.

The word shin, new, is a puzzle. The ACA records do not say what the wing was new in relation to, and they date it only to the mid-Meiji period, which could place it earlier than the main house of 1906.

Why It Was Listed

The Hoashi Family Branch Residence New Reception Wing was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape.

A merchant's main house always had the shop at its front, so even its best room sat within earshot of business. This household already had a reception room and anteroom in the north of the main house, yet it built a separate wing deeper in the plot, across the inner garden. One 8-mat room and a veranda is a small building, but its purpose is unmistakable: a room for sitting with guests and looking at the garden.

The fence and gate matter too. The fence encloses the wing's garden and the gate is the way into it; because the fence runs on to the bathhouse, it also draws a line across the back of the property. Registering room, fence and gate as one entry reflects how closely the wing and its garden were designed together.

What to Look For

The hipped roof slopes down on all four sides. On a wing that runs east to west, the southern eave reaches out over the veranda and drops low toward the garden. The veranda is a buffer between room and garden, softening the daylight before it reaches the tatami.

Seen from the inner garden, the main house, the New Reception Wing and the bathhouse enclose the space, with the board fence and gate tying them together. The design intent lies more in that enclosure than in any single building.

Visiting

The Hoashi Family Branch Residence (Shoseki Furokan) New Reception Wing is not open to the public (checked 25 September 2026). It stands behind the main house, deep in the plot, and is hard to see from the street on the east side.

The wing sits across two lot numbers, 4361 and 4363. Walking around the outside of the property offers few if any views of its garden side. This is private land; please do not peer over the fences.

Directions to the site as a whole are on the Hoashi Family Branch Residence page.