Nishie Family Residence Retirement Quarters

About the Nishie Family Residence Retirement Quarters

The Nishie Family Residence Retirement Quarters (西江家住宅隠居座敷, Nishie-ke Jūtaku Inkyo Zashiki) is an early Meiji two-storey timber annex of tatami rooms set deep behind the main house of the Nishie family estate in Nariwa-cho Sakamoto, Takahashi City, Okayama Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2003. As the name suggests, it was most likely the retreat of a head of the family who had handed over the household.

It has a footprint of about 35 square meters, a hipped pantiled roof, and is joined to the southwest of the main house's bathhouse.

The ground floor is divided into small rooms in the manner of a tea house, and the upper floor holds two ten-mat rooms. Both the east and west sides open wide, so the rooms are bright and airy despite their hidden position.

Why the Retirement Quarters Were Registered

Eight of the estate's nine buildings were registered as contributing to the historic landscape. The Nishie Family Residence Retirement Quarters alone was registered as a model of design, a judgement on the quality of the building itself.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as having no elaborate ornament but a clean, clear sukiya style. Unlike the gate and its reception wing, which dress the estate's public face, this building was made for the comfort of the people inside.

What to Look For

The key is the openings. With both long sides thrown open, the two upper rooms take the morning and the evening light, and with the sliding doors drawn back a breeze runs straight through.

Downstairs the rooms are cut small, in tea-room proportions. Two very different kinds of space, broad reception rooms above and intimate small rooms below, are stacked in one compact building.

Restrained sukiya design depends on the quality of materials and the precision of proportions rather than decoration. Set beside the showy front of the main house, it reveals a second, quieter taste within the same estate.

Visiting the Retirement Quarters

There is no indication that the Nishie Family Residence Retirement Quarters is open to visitors. It stands tucked behind the main house and cannot be seen from outside the estate.

The estate is the Nishie family's home and visits are by reservation only. Phone photography is allowed, but exhibits may not be photographed and commercial shoots are not permitted; staff point out where the buildings can be photographed after you enter.

Directions and booking details are on the Nishie Family Residence page.