An 1881 Farmhouse in Osaka's Only Village
Akaishi Family Residence Main Building (赤石家住宅主屋, Akaishi-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a farmhouse of 1881 in the settlement of Moriya, Chihayaakasaka Village, Osaka Prefecture, added to Japan's register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 15 May 2007 under registration number 27-0421. Because the property changed hands after registration, Japanese sources now also list it as Yamada Family Residence, formerly Akaishi Family Residence (山田家住宅（旧赤石家住宅）).
Chihayaakasaka is the only village left in Osaka Prefecture, a pocket of terraced rice fields and wooded slopes below Mount Kongō. The house stands near the middle of it, facing north onto the settlement road.
Its footprint is 166 square metres. The frame measures nine and a half ken along the ridge by five ken across, roughly 17 by 9 metres, under an irimoya hipped-and-gabled roof of pantiles. A small raised roof sits at the western end, a koshiyane that vented smoke from the cooking hearth below. The main roof was re-tiled around 2002.
Why the Walls Are Black
Most traditional plaster in the Kansai region is white. Here the upper walls are finished in black shikkui, lime plaster tinted with soot, laid over an exposed timber frame with vertical boarding across the lower portion. Black hides soot and weather stains, and it takes light differently, returning a dull sheen rather than a glare.
Above the ground floor runs a tsushi-nikai, a low half-storey used for storage. Its walls carry mushiko-mado, thick-lipped plastered windows whose slatted openings are said to resemble insect cages. Three sit on the north face and three on the south, all finished in the same black plaster. The easternmost one is set lower than the rest. That small break in rhythm keeps a long façade from reading as a single flat panel.
One point of confusion is worth flagging for anyone comparing sources. The structural field in the national register records the building as single-storey timber construction, while the descriptive note in the same database calls it tsushi-nikai. A storage half-storey is often not counted as a full floor, which appears to explain the discrepancy.
Six Rooms in a Grid
The interior follows the seikei roku-madori plan, six rooms arranged in a two-by-three grid, a layout used in prosperous farmhouses since the Edo period. Here it is laid out right-handed. Visitors entered through the earth-floored doma on the north side, stepped up at the yoritsuki shikidai threshold, and passed through the Kuchinoma and Nakanoma to reach the formal Zashiki.
Beside the doma is the Hiroshiki, a raised plank-floored area used for work and for eating, a room name particular to houses in the Kawachi and Izumi districts of Osaka. Looking across from the Kamaya kitchen, the ceiling here is still the original tsuchi-oki ita boarding laid to carry earth above. This part of the house has barely been touched.
The formal rooms were built with care. Good timber went into the transom carvings, the fittings, the alcove and the study bay, and the joinery is fine-grained. Between the Kuchinoma and the Nakanoma survives a sashi-kamoi lintel grooved for three tracks, made to receive sliding paper screens that stop against a fixed panel and disappear into a pocket. The rooms behind, the rear Nakanoma and the Nando, have been remodelled and keep little of their earlier form. The north end of the veranda was rebuilt with glass doors.
Sit in the Nakanoma and the garden fills the opening to the south.
Registered, Not Designated
Japan runs two parallel systems for built heritage, and the distinction matters here. Designation, which produces National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties, is selective and restrictive. Registration, introduced in 1996, is broader. Buildings roughly fifty years old or older go onto a national register, owners keep living in them, and interiors can be altered as long as the exterior character survives. The system exists so that ordinary historic buildings can stay in use.
Akaishi Family Residence Main Building was registered under the criterion covering buildings that contribute to the historic landscape of the country. The judgement was about the settlement rather than the object: the black walls and the wide tiled roof are part of what Moriya looks like from the road.
A second building on the same plot, a storehouse of 1950, was registered the same day as number 27-0422. The two are treated together as Akaishi Family Residence.
Seeing It Responsibly
The house is a private home and the interior is closed to visitors. The Osaka Cultural Properties Navi database, compiled by the Osaka Architects Association, lists it plainly as not open. The exterior can be seen from the public road, but the grounds cannot be entered, and photographing the garden, the entrance or anything through a window intrudes on people who live there.
According to the same database, the current owners use the buildings as a place for teaching and passing on tea ceremony, kimono dress and formal etiquette. Any occasion on which the house opens would be announced locally rather than published on a standing schedule.
Getting to Moriya takes about twenty minutes by bus from the south exit of Tondabayashi Station on the Kintetsu Nagano Line, riding the Chihaya route and getting off at Chihayaakasaka Village Office or Moriya. Note that the Kongō Bus company wound up its operations in December 2023 and the routes were taken over by a joint service run by Tondabayashi City, Taishi Town, Kanan Town and Chihayaakasaka Village. Older timetables are obsolete and services are infrequent, so check the village transport page before setting out.
The village is better known for sites connected to Kusunoki Masashige, the fourteenth-century commander born here: Takemikumari Shrine, the monument marking his birthplace, the terraced fields of Shimo-Akasaka, and the Chihayaakasaka roadside station. All lie within walking distance or a short bus ride, which makes the sensible plan to walk the village centre and take in the farmhouse exterior along the way.
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Q&A
- Can I visit Akaishi Family Residence Main Building? Is the interior open?
- No. The building is a private residence and the interior is not open to the public. You can see the exterior from the settlement road, but please do not enter the grounds or photograph the garden, entrance or interior.
- When was Akaishi Family Residence Main Building built and when was it registered?
- It was built in 1881, the fourteenth year of the Meiji era. It was entered on the national register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 15 May 2007 as number 27-0421, under the criterion for buildings contributing to the historic landscape.
- Why are the walls of Akaishi Family Residence Main Building black, and what are the small windows?
- The upper walls use black shikkui, lime plaster tinted with soot, which resists showing dirt. The small openings are mushiko-mado, plastered slatted windows lighting the storage half-storey. Six are set into the walls here, three on each long side, with the easternmost placed lower than the others.
- How do I get to Akaishi Family Residence Main Building from Osaka?
- Take the Kintetsu Nagano Line to Tondabayashi Station, then a Chihaya-route bus from the south exit for about twenty minutes to the Chihayaakasaka Village Office or Moriya stop. Bus operation changed hands in December 2023 and services are limited, so consult the village transport page for current times.
- Why is Akaishi Family Residence Main Building sometimes called Yamada Family Residence?
- The property was registered in 2007 under the Akaishi family name and later passed to new owners, so Japanese heritage listings such as Osaka Cultural Properties Navi now give it as Yamada Family Residence, formerly Akaishi Family Residence. The national register retains the original name.
Basic Information
| Name | Akaishi Family Residence Main Building (赤石家住宅主屋); also listed as Yamada Family Residence, formerly Akaishi Family Residence |
|---|---|
| Location | 911-otsu Moriya, Chihayaakasaka Village, Minamikawachi District, Osaka Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structures), no. 27-0421; criterion: contributes to the historic landscape |
| Year Designated | Registered 15 May 2007 (54th round of registration) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 9.5 by 5 ken (approx. 17 by 9 m); footprint 166 m². Timber, irimoya roof with pantiles, storage half-storey (register lists structure as single-storey timber) |
| Date Built | 1881; main roof re-tiled around 2002 |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Closed. Exterior visible from the public road only; entry to the grounds is not permitted |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Akaishi Family Residence Main Building
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00006224
- Cultural Heritage Online, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Akaishi Family Residence Main Building
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/141988
- Osaka Cultural Properties Navi — Yamada Family Residence (formerly Akaishi Family Residence)
- https://osaka-bunkazainavi.org/bunkazai/山田家住宅（旧赤石家住宅） 主屋 座敷蔵
- Chihayaakasaka Village — Cultural Properties of the Village
- https://www.vill.chihayaakasaka.osaka.jp/kakuka/kyoiku/syakaikyoiku/bunnkazai/index.html
- Chihayaakasaka Village — New Public Transport Service
- https://www.vill.chihayaakasaka.osaka.jp/kakuka/soumu/soumuseisaku/koukyo_koutsu/8562.html
- Osaka Prefecture — List of Cultural Properties in Chihayaakasaka Village (PDF)
- https://www.pref.osaka.lg.jp/documents/26653/030chihayaakasaka.pdf
Last verified: 2026.08.13