Former Arai Family Residence

What Is the Former Arai Family Residence?

The Former Arai Family Residence (旧新井家住宅, Kyū Arai-ke Jūtaku) is the estate of the Arai family, village headmen of Komahongo, in Hidaka City, Saitama Prefecture; six of its structures, dating from the mid-Meiji period (1883 to 1897) to 1906, were entered on the register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on April 25, 2014. Hidaka City now owns the estate and opens it to the public under the name Komagō Kominka (高麗郷古民家), "the old house of Komagō."

The house sits on the lip of a terrace above Kinchakuda, the flat, purse-shaped meadow enclosed by a tight loop of the Koma River. A stand of old trees still shelters the back of the property, and along the road the estate presents a long run of stone wall topped by white plaster. The city's cultural properties office describes the Arai estate and its woodland as part of a single view running from Kinchakuda up to Mount Hiwada.

According to Hidaka City's municipal profile, the Arai served as nanushi, the headmen who ran village affairs in the Edo period. That role explains what visitors find here: a main house of unusual size with formal reception rooms, and a separate guest wing with its own ceremonial entrance for receiving important callers.

Six Registered Structures

All six structures of the Former Arai Family Residence were registered together on April 25, 2014, in the 77th round of registrations, under consecutive numbers 11-0135 to 11-0140. Each was listed under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation, following a recommendation by the Council for Cultural Affairs on November 15, 2013. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database gives the following dates and sizes.

• Main House: mid-Meiji period, renovated in 1993 and 2012; two-storey timber building, building area 318 square meters
• Guest Hall: 1906; two-storey timber building, building area 93 square meters
• Barn: 1888, renovated in 2012; single-storey timber building, building area 50 square meters
• South Storehouse: mid-Meiji period, renovated in 2012; two-storey earthen storehouse, building area 39 square meters
• North Storehouse: mid-Meiji period, renovated in 2012; two-storey earthen storehouse, building area 20 square meters
• Stone Wall: mid-Meiji period; stone, 62 meters long

The sources disagree on the age of the main house. The national database places it in the mid-Meiji period, while Hidaka City suggests it may go back to the last years of the Edo period or the early Meiji years, and adds that several rounds of alteration have changed its original form considerably. Only the barn (1888) and the guest hall (1906) are dated to a single year.

How the Arai Estate Is Laid Out

At the center of the Former Arai Family Residence stands the south-facing main house. The guest hall lies to its southwest and faces east; the south storehouse stands to the east of the main house and faces west. The north storehouse sits behind the main house on a raised stone platform, also facing west, and the barn occupies the middle of the southern edge, perched on the stone wall.

That southern wall runs along the front of the plot and then turns a right angle to wrap the east side of the barn. Seen from the Kinchakuda side, the barn and white plaster walls line the top of the stonework, with the roofs of the main house and guest hall rising behind them. In its notes on the barn, the south storehouse and the stone wall, the Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out how each helps compose this street front.

Besides the six registered structures, the grounds keep an earthen wall and a well. A work building added in fiscal 2012 and a toilet block built in fiscal 2011 were put up for public use and are not part of the registration.

Visiting the Former Arai Family Residence

The Former Arai Family Residence is open to visitors free of charge. From April to November it opens from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and from December to March from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays unless they fall on a national holiday, and over the New Year break from December 29 to January 3. The city charges fees only when the buildings are booked for private use, such as exhibitions or concerts.

During the red spider lily (higanbana) festival at Kinchakuda each autumn, the house opens every day from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. There is a small free car park on the grounds, but the city asks drivers to use the paid Kinchakuda car park during the festival.

The nearest station is Koma (高麗駅) on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line, about 15 minutes away on foot. From Ikebukuro allow roughly 50 minutes to Hannō, then about 10 minutes more to Koma. From Komagawa Station (高麗川駅) on the JR Hachikō and Kawagoe lines, a Kokusai Kōgyō bus takes about 10 minutes; the city lists the fare as 210 yen. Walking from Komagawa takes around 45 minutes.

A volunteer group, the Komagō Kominka Supporters Club, decorates the house for the doll festival in March, Tanabata in July and the autumn moon-viewing nights, and holds small concerts and events on those occasions. The city marked five years of public opening in 2018. Its visitor information does not mention any restriction on taking photographs outdoors. Enquiries go to the Hidaka City Industry Promotion Division (042-989-2111).