What the Terada Family Residence Main House is
The Terada Family Residence Main House (寺田家住宅主屋, Terada-ke Jutaku Omoya) is a 1936 dwelling in Shinmachi, Kaizuka City, Osaka Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 25 July 2011. It covers 213 square metres, timber framed, two storeys with a single-storey section.
It stands towards the north of the walled estate. The roof combines Yosemune-zukuri and Irimoya-zukuri forms, so ridge heights change from one part of the building to the next. The entrance porch and the reception room are Spanish in manner, with pale rendered walls, a round-headed arch and stained glass. Walk further in and the Terada Family Residence Main House turns Japanese, its Zashiki rooms handled in the lighter Sukiya-zukuri way. The idiom changes inside, yet the silhouette read from outside stays coherent.
The client was Kusuji Terada, who had set up a branch of a family whose businesses were centred on neighbouring Kishiwada. He acquired the land around 1934 and the house was finished two years later.
Why the Terada Family Residence Main House was registered
Japan's registration system lists buildings against published criteria, and the Terada Family Residence Main House was entered as a model of design. Other structures on the same estate, among them the stone wall and the inner storehouse, were entered instead for their contribution to the historic landscape.
What the criterion recognises here is the handling of two design languages in one building. Houses of the early Showa period often added a single Western room, or set a Western wing beside a Japanese one as a separate structure. This house runs roof, porch, reception room and tatami rooms together as one design, and the joints between them do not strain.
Its registration number is 27-0542, first of the seven on the estate. At 213 square metres the Terada Family Residence Main House is not unusually large for its date. It was recognised for how carefully it was worked out rather than for its scale.
What to look at
Start with the roof. Hipped and hip-and-gable forms meet, and the eaves line steps down where the two-storey part gives way to the single-storey part. That step is what lets Spanish tilework sit beside a Japanese eaves edge without either looking borrowed.
Then the entrance. The arch of the porch, the roughly finished wall surface and the coloured glass belong to one continuous Western sequence that ends at the reception room. Beyond it the building becomes Japanese, with posts and Nageshi rails read in the traditional way. From outside you cannot see where the change happens, though the shape and size of the windows give it away.
Sources differ on the roofing. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database records the Terada Family Residence Main House as tile roofed, while Kaizuka City describes a koshibuki roof combining tile above with copper sheet below. The two accounts may well describe the same roof at different levels of detail. This article follows the national database.
Seeing the Terada Family Residence Main House
The Terada Family Residence Main House is a private home in daily use and its interior is not open. Standing inside the stone wall, it shows only its roof and part of its upper storey to the street.
The practical viewpoint is the pavement on the west side of the estate, along Prefectural Route 204. From there the layered hipped and gabled roofs rise above the wall. From in front of the main gate at the south end of the wall, the roof of the house can be picked out through the trees in the garden.
Photography from the public road is fine. Please do not step inside the gate or linger close against the wall. Directions to the estate and the conditions for visiting it as a whole are set out on the page for the Terada Family Residence in Kaizuka.
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Q&A
- Can I go inside the Terada Family Residence Main House?
- No. It is privately owned and still lived in, and the interior is not open to visitors. Viewing is limited to the exterior from the public street.
- When was the Terada Family Residence Main House built and registered?
- It was built in 1936 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 25 July 2011, under registration number 27-0542.
- Which parts of the Terada Family Residence Main House are Western and which are Japanese?
- The porch and reception room are Spanish in manner and include stained glass windows. The tatami rooms behind them follow Japanese practice with a sukiya inflection.
- How big is the Terada Family Residence Main House?
- It covers 213 square metres, timber framed, two storeys with a single-storey section. A covered passage on its east face links it to the inner storehouse.
- Where should I stand to see the Terada Family Residence Main House?
- On the pavement of Prefectural Route 204 west of the estate. The roofs show above the stone wall, and the view opens a little in front of the main gate.
Basic Information
| Name | Terada Family Residence Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | 213 Shinmachi, Kaizuka City, Osaka Prefecture, and neighbouring lots |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Year Designated | Registered on 25 July 2011 (Heisei 23) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Floor area 213 square metres |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | Not open to the public; exterior only |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Terada Family Residence Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008731
- Terada Family Residence (Kaizuka City)
- https://www.city.kaizuka.lg.jp/bunkazai/bunkazaidata/bunkazai/kuni_sitei/tourokubunkazai/teradake.html
Last verified: 2026.09.23
