What Is the Koyama Family Residence Annex?
The Koyama Family Residence Annex (兒山家住宅離れ, Koyama-ke Jūtaku Hanare) is a small outbuilding projecting from the north end of the reception wing's east side on a wealthy farming family's estate in Tokikita, Naka Ward, Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture; it was built in the early Showa period (from 1926) and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 14 February 2002. At 17 square meters it is the smallest of the estate's ten registered buildings.
The other nine buildings date from the late Edo period. The Koyama Family Residence Annex is the exception, added when part of the reception wing was remodelled in the early Showa years.
A Three-Mat Room with Verandas
At the heart of the Koyama Family Residence Annex is a room of about three tatami mats, with an Engawa veranda on three sides. A bath and a toilet project from the northeast corner. More of the floor area goes to veranda and washroom than to the room itself.
The roof is hipped (Yosemune-zukuri) and laid with Sangawara-buki pantiles, lighter than the round-and-flat tiles on the reception wing. Pantiles became common from the mid-Edo period onward, a natural choice for an early Showa addition.
Small but Essential
The Agency for Cultural Affairs registered the Koyama Family Residence Annex as a model of design. Its description calls the annex small and plain but indispensable to the reception wing, and notes the refined face it presents to the garden on the south.
Entertaining guests in a formal wing called for a place nearby with a bath and a toilet. The annex filled that need and, seen from the garden, gives the east end of the reception wing a lighter finish. It also records a Showa-era change to an Edo-period house.
Visiting the Koyama Family Residence Annex
The Koyama Family Residence Annex is part of a family home, and the interior is closed.
It stands inside the walled garden east of the reception wing, so the Koyama Family Residence Annex is almost invisible from the road. Please view the estate from the public road without entering.
Q&A
- What is the Koyama Family Residence Annex?
- An early Showa-period outbuilding of 17 square meters projecting from the reception wing, with a three-mat room, verandas on three sides, and a bath and toilet at the northeast corner.
- When was the Koyama Family Residence Annex built?
- In the early Showa period, when part of the reception wing was remodelled. It is the only one of the ten registered buildings not from the late Edo period.
- When did the Koyama Family Residence Annex become a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- On 14 February 2002, as registration number 27-0169, registered as a model of design.
- What kind of roof does the Koyama Family Residence Annex have?
- A hipped roof with pantiles, unlike the full round-and-flat tiling on the reception wing.
- Can I visit the Koyama Family Residence Annex?
- The interior is closed, and because it sits inside the walled garden it is almost impossible to see from the road.
Basic Information
| Name | Koyama Family Residence Annex (兒山家住宅離れ) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1404 Tokikita, Naka-ku, Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), No. 27-0169 |
| Year Designated | Registered 14 February 2002 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber building, tiled roof, building area 17 square meters |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Closed to the public (exterior viewing from the public road) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Koyama Family Residence Annex (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002648
- Koyama Family Residence (Sakai City, in Japanese)
- https://www.city.sakai.lg.jp/kanko/rekishi/bunkazai/bunkazai/torokuseido/koyamakejutaku.html
- Koyama Family Residence (Sakai Tourist Guide, in Japanese)
- https://www.sakai-tcb.or.jp/spot/detail/219
Last verified: 2026.09.28
