What Is the Former Ichien Family Residence Main House?
The Former Ichien Family Residence Main House (旧一圓家住宅主屋, Kyū Ichien-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a two-storey wooden farmhouse built in 1857 in Ichien, Taga Town, Inukami District, Shiga Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 7, 2014. It was remodeled in 1891 and has a building area of 212 square meters.
It stands near the middle of the estate, facing west, under a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles, with lean-to Geya eaves running around its sides. The Agency for Cultural Affairs sums it up as a fine farmhouse that conveys the standing of an old established family.
Three storehouses keep close company with the Ichien main house. Two of them are joined directly to it, the document storehouse at a wing on the northeast and the utility and lumber storehouse on the south, and one of those can only be entered from inside the house.
Why It Was Registered
The Former Ichien Family Residence Main House was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The point is less any single rare feature than how well it keeps the form of a leading village household's home, and how it anchors the whole estate.
The standing the national description mentions can be read in the plan and the front. The layout belongs to the six-room type used for large farmhouses. On top of that, the formal reception rooms (zashiki) are arranged in an L, with alcoves, shelves and other decorative fittings placed at the key points. At the center of the facade is a Shikidai, a raised formal entry for receiving guests. In other words, the house kept a separate route and set of rooms for visitors apart from family life, which is exactly what a household holding village office needed.
The house was built in 1857, a decade before the end of the shogunate. The database records the 1891 remodeling but does not say what it changed.
What to Look For
Black plaster over clapboard
The outer walls of the Ichien main house are finished in black Shikkui plaster, with the lower part covered in overlapping Shitami-itabari clapboard. The storehouses around it are pale, so the main house is the one dark building on the estate. The boards take the splash from rain at the foot of the wall, and their horizontal lines sit neatly beneath the flat black plaster.
A band of long windows upstairs
Along the upper storey runs a row of wide, low windows. Set beneath the broad gable roof, this narrow horizontal band makes the front read as long and settled. The operators describe an upstairs guest room in the house whose large windows look onto the Japanese garden.
The formal entry at the center
The shikidai sits at the middle of the west front. It was the entrance for guests of rank, kept apart from the family's everyday door. Placing it squarely at the center is the part of the Former Ichien Family Residence Main House's status that you can see from outside.
Visiting the Main House
The Former Ichien Family Residence Main House serves as the core of a guesthouse, so only overnight guests can go inside. The official website lists no public tours or open days (checked September 27, 2026). Even for guests, which reception rooms you can use depends on the room arrangement, so ask the operators.
For the exterior, the west front is the view to aim for: the black plaster, the clapboard and the upstairs windows all fit in one frame. The website says nothing about photography, so guests should check with the staff before taking pictures.
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- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Former Ichien Family Residence Main House
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Q&A
- When was the Former Ichien Family Residence Main House built?
- It was built in 1857 and remodeled in 1891.
- What is special about the floor plan of the Former Ichien Family Residence Main House?
- It follows the six-room farmhouse type, with formal rooms arranged in an L and fitted with decorative alcoves, and a formal shikidai entry at the center of the front.
- How are the walls of the Former Ichien Family Residence Main House finished?
- In black plaster, with clapboard along the lower part. A row of long windows runs along the upper storey.
- Is the Former Ichien Family Residence Main House a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- Yes. It was registered on October 7, 2014, as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the country.
- Can I go inside the Former Ichien Family Residence Main House?
- Only as an overnight guest, since it operates as a guesthouse. No public open days are announced (checked September 27, 2026).
Basic Information
| Name | Former Ichien Family Residence Main House (旧一圓家住宅主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 149 Nishikado, Ichien, Taga-cho, Inukami-gun, Shiga Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building), registration no. 25-0349 |
| Year Designated | Registered October 7, 2014 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Wooden, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building area 212 square meters |
| Owner | Hikone Landscape Forum, a non-profit organization |
| Public Access | Interior open to overnight guests only; no public open days announced |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Former Ichien Family Residence Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010180
- Cultural Heritage Online: Former Ichien Family Residence Main House
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/276933
- Rooms (Taga Satonoyado Ichien Yashiki)
- https://www.ichienyashiki.jp/stay/
Last verified: 2026.09.26
