A Western room and a Japanese one, built as a single registration
Joto Mukashi Machiya (Former Kajimura Family Residence) Western-Style Building and Rear Zashiki is a timber structure of the Taisho era (1912-1926), two storeys with a single-storey portion, at 40 Higashi-Shinmachi in Tsuyama City, Okayama Prefecture, entered on the national register of tangible cultural properties on May 7, 1997. Its name lists two things because the entry covers two joined parts.
The building went up behind the reception hall during the general remodelling the Kajimura family carried out in the Taisho years, and it covers 85 square meters. What the family wanted was a Western room. What they built was a Western room fused to a Japanese one, and the seam between them is the whole interest of the place.
The Western half announces itself through its wall finish. The exterior carries what Japanese builders call a German wall, a rendering made by throwing mortar at the surface so that it dries in an irregular, granular texture. Sash windows that slide up and down replace the sliding paper screens of the rest of the estate, and the way in is a hinged wooden door.
Behind it, the rear zashiki is conventional tatami accommodation. The two are not neighbours across a courtyard but a continuous piece of building, and moving from one to the other means crossing a threshold between two entirely different sets of assumptions about floors, light and shoes.
Registered as a model of design
Register number 33-0009 belongs to this building. It entered the list as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on May 7, 1997, with public notice on May 29, under the criterion that it is a model of its kind in form and design.
The national database frames the value in terms of period evidence. It records the interior as arranged in the mixed Japanese and Western manner that was fashionable at the time of construction, and treats the building as a structure that shows the character of its era. It also notes that the workmanship is of high quality despite the plain appearance, which is a distinction worth holding onto: modest is not the same as cheap.
Provincial examples matter more than metropolitan ones for this kind of history. Western rooms in Tokyo and Osaka survive in numbers; a merchant family in an inland castle town adding one to an existing compound, and keeping it attached to a tatami wing rather than standing it apart, shows how the fashion actually travelled. The Joto district here was selected as a Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings in 2013.
What to look at
Put a hand near the render. The granular surface of the Joto Mukashi Machiya Western-Style Building and Rear Zashiki was produced by throwing mortar rather than trowelling it, and the result scatters light instead of reflecting it, which is why the wall looks matt even in strong sun.
Then the windows. Sash windows counterweighted to slide vertically were an imported system, and their proportions, tall and narrow, sit oddly against the low horizontal openings of the Japanese buildings around them. Comparing the two window types across the yard is the quickest lesson in what changed in Taisho domestic architecture.
The door is worth a look for the same reason. A hinged wooden door swinging on its edge, in a compound where every other opening slides.
Inside, the join is the thing. Follow the floor. Where boards give way to tatami, the building changes nationality, and the carpentry that manages that transition is careful work.
Visiting
The Joto Mukashi Machiya (Former Kajimura Family Residence) Western-Style Building and Rear Zashiki is closed. Tsuyama City stopped admitting visitors to the Kajimura compound on June 1 in 2025 in order to begin renovation work, and has announced a reopening around November 2026 with part of the estate to be used as accommodation. No further detail has been released about which buildings will be shown. Ring 0868-22-5791 before making the trip.
The terms that applied up to the closure: no admission charge, open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with the last entry at 4:30 p.m., closed Tuesdays and on the day following a Tuesday public holiday, and closed from December 29 to January 3.
Travelling there means about 25 minutes on foot east from JR Tsuyama Station, or roughly 10 minutes by car from the Tsuyama interchange on the Chugoku Expressway, parking in the Joto district visitor car park. Since the Western-Style Building and Rear Zashiki stands behind the reception hall, it is out of sight from the road and there is no exterior view to be had while the compound is shut.
Photography rules for the reopened site are unpublished. Ask at reception before photographing interiors.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Okayama
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Q&A
- Why does the Joto Mukashi Machiya (Former Kajimura Family Residence) Western-Style Building and Rear Zashiki have two names in one?
- Because the registration covers a single structure made of two joined parts: a Western-style room and a Japanese tatami wing behind it. They were built together during the Taisho remodelling and cover 85 square meters.
- What is a German wall, as used on the Joto Mukashi Machiya Western-Style Building?
- A rendering technique in which mortar is thrown at the wall rather than smoothed on, leaving a rough granular surface. It was a common finish for Western-style buildings in Japan in this period.
- When was the Joto Mukashi Machiya (Former Kajimura Family Residence) Western-Style Building and Rear Zashiki registered?
- On May 7, 1997, under register number 33-0009, as a model of its kind in form and design. The building dates from the Taisho era (1912-1926).
- Can I visit the Joto Mukashi Machiya Western-Style Building and Rear Zashiki?
- Not while the compound is closed. Renovation work began in 2025 and the announced reopening is in 2026. The building stands behind the reception hall and is not visible from the street.
- How do I get to the Joto Mukashi Machiya Western-Style Building and Rear Zashiki?
- It is about 25 minutes east on foot from JR Tsuyama Station, or roughly 10 minutes by car from the Tsuyama interchange on the Chugoku Expressway. Use the Joto district visitor car park.
Basic Information
| Name | Joto Mukashi Machiya (Former Kajimura Family Residence) Western-Style Building and Rear Zashiki |
|---|---|
| Location | 40 Higashi-Shinmachi, Tsuyama City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered on May 7, 1997 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2 storeys with a single-storey part, tiled roof, floor area 85 square meters |
| Owner | Tsuyama City |
| Public Access | Closed for renovation work (since 2025); reopening planned in 2026 |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Joto Mukashi Machiya (Former Kajimura Family Residence) Western-Style Building and Rear Zashiki
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00000163
- Tsuyama Machijuu Museum, Digital Experience Guide: Old Machiya Townhouse of Joto
- https://tsuyama-machijuu.jp/en/guide/joto-mukashi/
- Okayama Kanko Web: Joto Mukashi Machiya (Former Kajimura Family Residence)
- https://www.okayama-kanko.jp/spot/detail_10509.html
Last verified: 2026.09.09