Kinjo Masuharu Family Residence Main House

What Is the Kinjo Masuharu Family Residence Main House?

The Kinjo Masuharu Family Residence Main House (金城増治家住宅主屋, Kinjō Masuharu-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a single-storey timber dwelling of around 1891 in Makabe, Itoman City, Okinawa Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 12 July 2005.

The house stands in the exact middle of a south-facing plot and faces south itself. Its hipped roof, in the Yosemune-zukuri form, is covered in red Okinawan tiles. The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives its size as 7 ken by a little over 4.5 ken, which Itoman City converts to roughly 13 by 8 meters; the building area is 108 square meters.

Why It Was Registered: A Model of Form

The Kinjo Masuharu Family Residence Main House was registered under the criterion of serving as a model of form. The stone wall, well and furu on the same property were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape; only the house was judged on the shape of the building itself.

The Agency points to three things. The house has an Amahaji on its east and south sides: a covered strip under the eaves, carried on its own posts, that softens both the subtropical sun and the rain. Inside are an ichibanza and a nibanza, two eight-mat rooms, along with other rooms. And the whole follows the traditional Okinawan pattern. In a typical Okinawan farmhouse the front rooms line up along the south side, with the ichibanza receiving guests and the nibanza holding the family altar. The Kinjo Masuharu Family Residence Main House keeps that plan unchanged.

A Veranda More Than One Ken Wide

The feature the Agency singles out is the Engawa, the veranda. At the Kinjo Masuharu Family Residence Main House it is more than one ken wide, about 1.8 meters, and the Agency credits it with the open, airy character of the house.

Look at the south front from the yard. Under the red-tiled eaves stands the row of amahaji posts; behind them lies the veranda, and behind that the tatami rooms. The boundary between outside and inside is layered in several steps, with hardly any sense of a wall. Walk round to the east and you can see the amahaji turning the corner and carrying on along that side.

A photograph in Itoman City's village guide map shows a long side of the house: a continuous run of sliding wooden doors and veranda, with every bay between the posts open to the outside.

Visiting the Kinjo Masuharu Family Residence Main House

Since 1998 the Kinjo Masuharu Family Residence Main House has been used as a small eatery, Makabe Chinaa. As a customer during opening hours you can go inside and see for yourself how the ichibanza and nibanza connect, and how the rooms open straight through the veranda to the yard. Opening days, hours and directions are on the Kinjo Masuharu Family Residence page.

We found no stated photography rules. Other diners will be present, so ask the staff before taking pictures indoors. Outside opening hours the house is a private home and the grounds are closed.