Hagiwara Family Residence (Yao)

About the Hagiwara Family Residence (Yao)

The Hagiwara Family Residence (Yao) (萩原家住宅, Hagiwara-ke Jūtaku) is a former Kawachi cotton merchant's compound in Onji Nakamachi, Yao City, Osaka Prefecture, built around a late Edo main house of 1751 to 1830, and 7 of its structures were entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on September 10, 2019.

Today the compound goes by the name Chakichian (茶吉庵). The family traded under the house name Chaya Kichibei, which locals shortened to Chakichi, and the new name borrows that nickname. The Agency for Cultural Affairs reads the family name as Hagiwara; the current head of the family spells it Hagihara in English. Several other registered houses in Japan share the name Hagiwara Family Residence, so this page covers the one in Yao.

The Hagiwara Family Residence stands on the corner where the approach to Onji Shrine, ranked as the second shrine of old Kawachi Province, meets the Higashi-Koya Kaido, an old road toward Mount Koya that later became National Route 170. The main house faces east onto the road, with storehouses and a barn behind it.

Cotton, Mail and Looms

By the family's own account, the Hagiwaras settled in Onji around 1600 as village headmen and opened a wholesale business in Kawachi cotton around 1750. Each head of the house took the name Hagiwara Kichibei.

In 1876 part of the Hagiwara main house was refitted as the Onji post office. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates a renovation of the main house to about 1876, which appears to match this conversion. The office was renamed Onji (恩智) in 1885 and closed in 1895.

In 1888 the family gave up the wholesale trade and set up the Hagiwara weaving works. It became Hagiwara Orifu Co. in 1935, was turned over to war production in 1941, and was requisitioned by the US military in 1945. Weaving resumed in 1946 and continued until the family left the business in 1993.

In 2017 the 19th head of the family decided to keep the compound and began restoring it. Parts of it came back into use the following year, and the registration followed in 2019.

Layout of the Hagiwara Family Residence

The Hagiwara Family Residence divides into a front range on the road and a rear range across an inner courtyard. Start at the front, then walk through to the back.

At the front, the main house occupies the northern end of the plot and faces east. Before its southern half lies a small front garden, closed on the east and north by the front gate and high wall, which turn the corner in an L. In the southeast corner, east of the main house's reception wing, the Tatsumi Storehouse faces west.

At the back, the Cotton Storehouse sits along the north edge behind the main house, facing south, and the Rice Storehouse stands in the northwest corner facing east. Together they form an L that closes off the rear. The barn holds the southwest corner, and between the rice storehouse and the barn the rear gate stands at the top of steps cut into the stone retaining wall on the west side.

Two of the storehouse names are compass points taken from the main house. Tatsumi means southeast, and the family calls the cotton storehouse the Inui-gura, inui meaning northwest. A detached annex built by local carpenters between 1932 and 1936 also stands on the site, but it is not part of the registration.

The 7 Registered Structures

These 7 structures of the Hagiwara Family Residence are listed as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, all under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country.

• Main House: late Edo period (1751 to 1830), altered about 1876 and enlarged in the Taisho era
• Front Gate and High Wall: early Taisho era (1912 to 1918)
• Tatsumi Storehouse: late Edo period (1751 to 1830)
• Cotton Storehouse: late Edo period (1751 to 1830)
• Rice Storehouse: 1909
• Rear Gate: early Showa era (1926 to 1945)
• Barn: early Showa era (1926 to 1945)

Yao City notes that the Hagiwara Family Residence was the sixth registered site in the city, bringing its total of registered buildings to 27. Construction on this one plot spans about 150 years, from the late Edo period to the early Showa era.

Visiting the Hagiwara Family Residence

The Hagiwara Family Residence is privately owned and run by the family as Chakichian, a venue for a café, an art gallery, room rentals and events such as rakugo storytelling and concerts. The official website gives no separate viewing days or admission fee; you can go inside when the café is open or when a gallery show or event is on (checked September 2026).

The café in the main house lists its hours as 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closed on Tuesdays and some other days. Gallery and event dates are posted on the Chakichian website, so check before you go.

The compound sits in a residential neighborhood, and Chakichian asks visitors to be considerate of neighbors and not to bring pets. There is no published rule on photography, so ask on site before photographing interiors or exhibits.

The nearest station is Onji on the Kintetsu Osaka Line, about a 7-minute walk from the Hagiwara Family Residence. Chakichian says free parking is available, though spaces are limited.