Fujimoto Family Residence East Barn

The Fujimoto Family Residence East Barn

The Fujimoto Family Residence East Barn (藤本家住宅東納屋, Fujimoto-ke Jūtaku Higashinaya) is a single-storey early Meiji-period timber barn in Fujiidera City, Osaka Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 18, 2006. It runs along the south edge of the estate between the west barn and the back gate, with its ridge running east to west.

It measures 6 by 1 Ken bays and covers 19 square metres under a gabled (Kirizuma-zukuri) pantile roof (Sangawara-buki). The eastern two bays form an enclosed room; the rest is open along the north side, facing the work yard. The south wall, on the street, has board wainscoting at its base.

Why It Was Registered

The Fujimoto Family Residence East Barn was listed for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that its boarded south wall carries the look of the estate's west side around onto the south street.

From the street it is nothing but a long, boarded wall. From the work yard it is almost all openings, a row of posts with no wall between them. The barn keeps its closed face for the public and its open face for the household.

What to Look For

The proportions are the point. At 6 bays long and a single bay deep, the Fujimoto Family Residence East Barn is six times as long as it is deep. Its 19 square metres match the tool storehouse exactly, yet the two could hardly be more different in shape.

That long, thin plan doubles as the estate's southern boundary. At the west end its wall extends across the south side of the west barn; at the east end it meets the back gate. In effect, one building closes almost the whole south side of the work yard.

The open north side suits the handling of tools and crops, and the small walled room at the eastern end shows two kinds of space folded into one modest building.

Visiting the Fujimoto Family Residence East Barn

The Fujimoto Family Residence East Barn belongs to a private home and its interior is closed. The open north side faces the work yard and cannot be seen from outside.

The south wall can be seen from the public road along the south edge of the estate. Walk south along the temple approach, turn east at the southwest corner, and the barn's long wall runs from the west barn to the back gate. Directions from the station are on the Fujimoto Family Residence page.