Okinawa City Furusatoen Former Kuba Family Residence Main House

What Is the Okinawa City Furusatoen Former Kuba Family Residence Main House?

The Okinawa City Furusatoen Former Kuba Family Residence Main House (沖縄市立ふるさと園旧久場家住宅主屋) is a single-storey timber farmhouse built in 1924 and now standing inside the Okinawa Zoo & Museum in Goya, Okinawa City, Okinawa Prefecture; it was entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on July 25, 2011.

The house once belonged to the Kuba family and was moved to Furusatoen in 1985, along with the stone screen wall (hinpun) that stands at its gateway. It carries registration number 47-0076 and is owned by Okinawa City. The Agency for Cultural Affairs sums it up as a traditional Okinawan farmhouse.

Why the Kuba Family Main House Is Registered

The Okinawa City Furusatoen Former Kuba Family Residence Main House was registered under the criterion of serving as a model of form, one of the standards used for Registered Tangible Cultural Properties. It measures 15 meters across the front and 8.3 meters deep, with a building area of 127 square meters, and faces south.

The roof is hipped (Yosemune-zukuri) and laid in the formal round-and-flat tile style known as Hongawarabuki. Along the front and around the east side runs an Amahaji, a deep veranda formed by carrying the eaves well beyond the walls on a row of posts. In Okinawa's strong sun and sudden downpours it keeps light and rain off the rooms behind. Roof shape, tiling and veranda together make this a clear example of the Okinawan farmhouse type.

Highlights: Reading the Rooms from East to West

Inside the Kuba family main house, three front rooms known as ichibanza, nibanza and sanbanza (first, second and third rooms) run in a single line from east to west, each backed by a rear room called an uraza. The kitchen sits at the far west end.

What matters is how the rooms are used. The ichibanza at the east end has an alcove, the Okinawan equivalent of a Tokonoma, and the nibanza next to it holds the family Buddhist altar. In Okinawan houses the alcove room is generally described as the room for receiving guests and the altar room as the place for honoring the ancestors, and that order is kept intact here. The rear rooms have plank floors and no partitions between them.

Walk under the veranda from the east end and the order of first room, second room, third room and kitchen becomes obvious. Round the east corner and you can see the veranda turning to continue along the side wall.

Visiting the Okinawa City Furusatoen Former Kuba Family Residence Main House

Visitors to the Okinawa Zoo & Museum can view the exterior of the Kuba family main house during zoo opening hours; Okinawa City states that the farmstead is open to general visitors in the same way as the zoo's other facilities.

For the best view, walk around the hinpun and face the south front from the yard. From there the four slopes of the hipped roof and the depth of the veranda eaves are visible at once. The official guidance does not say whether you may step up into the rooms or whether photography is restricted, so follow any signs or staff instructions. Admission and transport details are on the Okinawa City Furusatoen page.