Oga Family Residence Two-Storey Zashiki

A Relocated Reception Building Behind the Main House

The Oga Family Residence Two-Storey Zashiki (大賀家住宅二階座敷, Ōga-ke Jūtaku Nikai Zashiki) is a two-storey timber reception building of the late Edo period, between 1751 and 1829, moved here from elsewhere in the middle Meiji era, in Imabo, Kita Ward, Okayama City, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 25 June 2002.

It stands north of the main house of the Oga Family Residence and east of the inner storehouse. It has a building area of 61 square meters and a roof of Hongawarabuki tiles. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, it also serves as the forecourt space in front of the inner storehouse.

Why It Was Registered

The Oga Family Residence Two-Storey Zashiki carries registration number 33-0059. It was registered on the same day as the rest of the estate's nine buildings, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country.

The building is said to have been put up in the late Edo period and brought here from another site around the middle of Meiji, so the date it was built and the date it arrived are different. Its new position doubles as the approach to the inner storehouse, making it part of the working circulation around the stores as well as a room for guests.

The Agency describes it as carefully made, with particular attention paid to the timber. It is small, but the choice of materials carries the household's standing.

What to Look For

Hipped-and-Gabled East, Plain Gable West

The roof of the Oga Family Residence Two-Storey Zashiki is Irimoya-zukuri, hipped-and-gabled, at the east end and a simple Kirizuma-zukuri gable at the west. Only one end gets the more formal treatment; the side that meets the inner storehouse is finished plainly.

Two Six-Mat Rooms on Each Floor

Each floor holds two rooms of 6 tatami mats, the same arrangement upstairs and down.

Cherry Boards and Bark-Edged Cedar

The veranda boards are cherry, and the battens of the ceiling are menkawa cedar, timber sawn so that the bark-covered surface of the log survives on its corners, a material favoured in sukiya design. The chosen woods are underfoot along the veranda and overhead in the ceiling.

Visiting

The Oga Family Residence Two-Storey Zashiki stands deep within the estate, north of the main house, and its interior is not open. Okayama Prefecture lists the Oga Family Residence as not open to the public, so the cherry veranda and cedar ceiling cannot be seen from outside. Do not enter the grounds.