A Thatched Yamato-mune Farmhouse
Tsuji Family Residence Main House (辻家住宅主屋, Tsuji-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a thatched farmhouse built in 1879 in Ikenohara, Osakasayama City, Osaka Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on March 2, 2006. Of the seven registered structures on the Tsuji estate, this is the one the family actually lives in.
It is a single-storey timber building with a footprint of 103 square metres. The Agency for Cultural Affairs classes it as a yamato-mune house, a regional type found from the Nara Basin into Kawachi: a steep thatched main roof whose gable ends are finished in tile, flanked by lower tiled wings. Here the great roof is thatch, while the side wing and the eaves are laid in heavy hongawarabuki tile.
The house faces almost due south. Walk through the gatehouse and across the front garden, and the full width of thatch and tile rises directly ahead.
Why It Was Registered, and the Floor Plan
The Tsuji Family Residence Main House was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The official description singles out its commanding presence among the surrounding rice fields.
On the floor plan, the sources disagree. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the living quarters as a four-room plan. Osaka Bunkazai Navi, a guide run with the Osaka Society of Architects, describes five rooms: three along the south side and two along the north. The difference may come down to which spaces are counted; both descriptions are recorded here.
The lower wing on the east held the kitchen and was originally an earth-floored work area. To the west projects a formal reception room, the most prestigious space in the house, with its tokonoma alcove facing east. Honoured guests would have come in through the shikidai entrance and been shown left into this room. The frame is held together with sashigamoi, deep horizontal beams that lock the posts into a rigid grid.
In 1974 the eastern part of the interior was remodelled for modern life, keeping the original structural frame. The design was by an architect from nearby Kawachinagano.
What to Look For
On the Tsuji Family Residence Main House, the roof is the thing to see. When the thatch was last renewed in 1999 it had a dusky, faintly reddish yellow tone known as kaya-iro, the colour of fresh reed. Thatch fades as it weathers, so the roof looks different from one year to the next.
Watch where thatch meets tile. The soft ridge of the reed roof gives way to the hard horizontal lines of the tiled wing and eaves, and that change of texture on a single building is the clearest signature of the yamato-mune style.
Around the entrance, the sliding doors have paper panels above and closely spaced horizontal slats below, and a beam end projects to the right of the door. On ceremonial occasions a lantern hangs from it.
Visiting the Main House
The Tsuji Family Residence Main House is a private home. The interior is not open, and the grounds cannot be entered.
For an outside view, head to the rice fields north of the compound. From the south the house is screened by the gatehouse and garden planting, but from behind, the thatched roof rises high above the storehouses along the northern edge. Keep photography to the public road.
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Q&A
- Can you go inside the Tsuji Family Residence Main House?
- No. The Tsuji Family Residence Main House is a private home; the interior is closed and visitors cannot enter the grounds.
- When was the Tsuji Family Residence Main House built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to 1879. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on March 2, 2006.
- What kind of roof does the Tsuji Family Residence Main House have?
- A yamato-mune roof: a steep thatched main roof combined with a lower tiled wing and tiled eaves. The thatch was renewed in 1999.
- How many rooms are in the Tsuji Family Residence Main House?
- Sources differ. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes a four-room plan, while Osaka Bunkazai Navi describes five rooms, three on the south side and two on the north.
- Can you take photos of the Tsuji Family Residence Main House?
- The Tsuji Family Residence Main House is part of a private home. Keep photography to exterior views from the public road, and avoid photographing the residents or their daily life.
Basic Information
| Name | Tsuji Family Residence Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | 4-927 Ikenohara, Osakasayama City, Osaka Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2006/3/2 (Heisei 18) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber building, tile and thatch roofs, building area 103 square metres |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (no entry to the interior or grounds; part of the exterior is visible from public roads) |
References
- Tsuji Family Residence Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005299
- Cultural Properties in Osakasayama City (Osakasayama City, in Japanese)
- https://www.city.osakasayama.osaka.jp/sosiki/kyouikubu/shougaigakushuu/1_3/1410317404183.html
- Tsuji Family Residence (Osaka Bunkazai Navi, in Japanese)
- https://osaka-bunkazainavi.org/bunkazai/%E8%BE%BB%E5%AE%B6%E4%BD%8F%E5%AE%85
Last verified: 2026.09.26
