Tanaka Family Residence Annex

The Tanaka Family Residence Annex

The Tanaka Family Residence Annex (田中家住宅離れ, Tanaka-ke Jūtaku Hanare) is a detached reception room built around 1907 in the southeast corner of the Tanaka compound in Yamanoue, Hirakata City, Osaka Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on November 2, 2018. It is the youngest of the six registered buildings.

The single-storey timber building runs north to south, covers 42 square metres and has a tiled roof. Inside, a 6-mat main room is wrapped on its north and west sides by a veranda facing the garden.

A Street Face That Matches Its Neighbours

Two sides of the Tanaka Family Residence Annex, south and east, face the street. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that these walls sit on dressed-stone footings, are finished in white plaster with tall vertical boarding below, and were made to match the surrounding buildings. The rice storehouse next door and the tool storehouse on the north edge share the finish, so the compound presents one continuous face to the road.

It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape: a room for living in, which from outside behaves like part of the compound wall.

Quiet Refinement Inside

Inside is another world. The Agency describes the annex as a calm reception room whose alcove fittings and transom panels are handled with restraint. Closed to the street, open to the garden: that contrast is the point of the building.

Access

Since its south and east walls face the street, the exterior of the annex should be visible from the road. No official information on public opening could be found; the compound appears to be a private home, and the grounds cannot be entered. The room and veranda face the garden and cannot be seen from outside.