A 1930 House on the Approach to Chichibu Shrine
The Main House of the Miyamae Residence (宮前家住宅主屋, Miyamae-ke Jūtaku Shuoku, also written Miyamae-ke Jutaku Shuoku) is a two-storey wooden dwelling at 993 Banba-chō in Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture, completed in 1930 (Shōwa 5) and entered on Japan's national register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 17 February 2004. Its architect was Yamada Jun (山田醇, 1884-1969), a Chichibu native who built a career in Tokyo and Kobe designing private houses.
Banba-chō is the street that carries visitors north toward Chichibu Shrine, and the stone paving underfoot passes a run of shops and houses put up in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. The Miyamae house sits behind a wall on the west side of its plot, set back from the pavement. You do not walk into it. You look at its roofs.
And the roofs are the point. The central block runs east to west under a gabled roof (kirizuma-zukuri) and rises to two storeys. On either side, the single-storey west and east wings turn ninety degrees and run north to south, each under its own gable. The result is a composition of ridges crossing at right angles at different heights, with the triangular gable ends, called hafu, presented repeatedly to the viewer from several angles at once. The roof is laid in clay tile.
Look at the openings and the effect shifts again. The window frames, doors and other joinery follow Western practice, and the elevations read as a Western house of the interwar years. The rooms inside are Japanese. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the two idioms as skilfully brought together, which is a dry way of saying that Yamada was doing something many Japanese architects of his generation attempted and rather fewer managed cleanly.
Why the House Was Registered, and What Registration Means
Japan protects historic buildings through two separate systems, and the difference matters when you plan a visit. Important Cultural Properties (重要文化財) and National Treasures (国宝) are designated: the state selects them, restricts what the owner may do, and funds their repair. Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (登録有形文化財) work differently. Registration is a lighter form of protection introduced in 1996 for buildings roughly fifty years old or more, mainly from the Meiji period onward. The owner keeps a free hand over daily use and need only give notice before major alteration or demolition. Many registered buildings are still ordinary homes, shops and offices.
The Miyamae main house was registered under the criterion "a model of design" (造形の規範となっているもの), one of three grounds available. It carries registration number 11-0061 and came in with the fortieth round of registrations, notified on 4 March 2004 after the register entry of 17 February. The registered unit is one building (一棟), with a building area of about 140 square metres.
What earned it that criterion is the handling of the hybrid. Interwar Japan produced a great many houses with a Western reception room grafted onto a Japanese plan, the two halves sitting side by side without conversation. Here the Western element is carried by the outer skin and the joinery while the interior stays Japanese, so the seam runs along the wall rather than through the middle of the house. The gable-heavy massing is the second half of the argument: instead of one large roof, Yamada broke the volume into pieces that could be read separately from the street.
Registration extended to the front gate at the same time, listed as a separate entry with the adjacent number 11-0062. The two were assessed together and share a registration date.
Seeing the House, and What Else Is on the Street
The Miyamae Residence is a private home. It is not open to the public, there are no visiting hours, no admission fee and no interior access, and the family living there has no obligation to receive callers. Please do not ring the bell, enter the gate or attempt to photograph over the wall into the garden. What is available to a visitor is the view from the public street, and that view is worth the short walk.
From Chichibu Station on the Chichibu Railway the walk takes about four or five minutes; from Ohanabatake Station, served by the Seibu Chichibu Line, allow around seven. Both are small stations, and Banba-chō is signposted toward the shrine. Photography from the pavement, framing the roofs and the gate, is generally accepted as long as you keep off the property and avoid photographing residents. Early morning gives the cleanest light on the west-facing elevation and the quietest street.
Give yourself an hour and the surrounding block repays it. Directly opposite stands the Sonoda Residence, whose main house and front gate are separately registered. A short walk along the same street brings you to Parī Shokudō, a diner opened in 1927 in a registered building that is still serving lunch, and to the Koike Tobacconist, a corner shop of the early Shōwa years with a raised street facade and moulded window surrounds. Chichibu Shrine itself lies at the top of the street, and the Chichibu Festival Hall beside it explains the December float festival that fills these roads once a year. None of these buildings are museums of architecture. They are a working townscape that happens to be listed, and the Miyamae house is one page of it.
One more thing about the architect. Yamada Jun was born in Kanasaki in what is now Chichibu City, graduated from the architecture department of Tokyo Imperial University in 1912, and joined the Tatsuno Kasai office, where he worked on the Dai-ichi Sōgokan building completed in 1921. He set up independently in Kobe in 1917 and moved to Tokyo in 1922. After the war he turned to what he called healthy housing, prompted by his son's illness, and published widely on how ordinary people should build. The Chichibu house of 1930 belongs to his middle years, when the hybrid dwelling was his central subject, and it stands in the town he came from.
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Q&A
- Can I go inside the Miyamae Residence Main House?
- No. The Miyamae Residence Main House is a private dwelling in continuous residential use, and there is no interior access, no admission and no visiting hours. Registration as a Tangible Cultural Property does not oblige an owner to open the building. Viewing is from the public street only.
- Where is the Miyamae Residence Main House and how do I reach it?
- The address is 993 Banba-chō, Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture, on the street running toward Chichibu Shrine. It is roughly a four to five minute walk from Chichibu Station on the Chichibu Railway, or about seven minutes from Ohanabatake Station on the Seibu Chichibu Line. Central Tokyo to Seibu-Chichibu takes about ninety minutes by limited express.
- Who designed the Miyamae Residence Main House?
- Yamada Jun (1884-1969), an architect born in Chichibu who graduated from Tokyo Imperial University in 1912 and specialised in private houses combining Japanese and Western elements. Other surviving works of his are also registered, including the Tsukiyama Residence in Setagaya, Tokyo.
- Is the Miyamae Residence Main House an Important Cultural Property?
- No. It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, which is a different and lighter category. Designation as an Important Cultural Property or National Treasure is a selective national honour with strong controls, while registration is a notification-based system covering a much larger number of buildings roughly fifty years old or more. The house was registered on 17 February 2004 under registration number 11-0061.
- May I photograph the Miyamae Residence Main House?
- Photographs taken from the public street are generally accepted. Do not enter the site, lean over the wall, use ladders or drones, or photograph residents. If anyone asks you to stop, stop.
- What else can I see near the Miyamae Residence Main House?
- The Sonoda Residence stands opposite, with its main house and gate separately registered. Along the same street are the registered Parī Shokudō diner of 1927, still open for meals, and the Koike Tobacconist of the early Shōwa period. Chichibu Shrine and the Chichibu Festival Hall are at the north end of the street.
Basic Information
| Name | Miyamae-ke Jūtaku Shuoku (宮前家住宅主屋), Main House of the Miyamae Residence |
|---|---|
| Location | 993 Banba-chō, Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure); registration number 11-0061; criterion: a model of design |
| Year Designated | Registered 17 February 2004; notified 4 March 2004 (fortieth registration round) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Wooden, two storeys, tiled roof; building area approx. 140 m² |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | Not open to the public. Exterior viewing from the public street only |
References
- National Database of Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs - Miyamae-ke Jutaku Shuoku
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003824
- Cultural Heritage Online, Agency for Cultural Affairs - Miyamae-ke Jutaku Shuoku
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/116704
- Chichibu City - Miyamae-ke Jutaku Shuoku
- https://www.city.chichibu.lg.jp/4268.html
- Chichibu City - Registered Tangible Cultural Properties
- https://www.city.chichibu.lg.jp/4024.html
- Chichibu City - Registered Tangible Cultural Properties pamphlet (PDF)
- https://www.city.chichibu.lg.jp/secure/24418/tourokuyukei_pamphlet.pdf
Last verified: 2026.08.10