A small two-storey block built for retirement
The Himurean Annex is a building of around 1921 attached behind the former washing room, toward the eastern side of a townhouse plot in Nishimotocho, Omihachiman, Shiga Prefecture, entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in December 1998.
Timber framed in Kirizuma-zukuri over two storeys, tiled with Sangawara-buki, it covers 30 square metres, the smallest of the 7 registered items here. Each floor holds a single room, one stacked on the other, and nothing more.
It was built as retirement quarters. When a household changed hands, the older generation was given somewhere slightly apart from the main house to live. The Himurean Annex is the building that took that role.
Evidence of a changing way of living
The exterior is handled in the Sukiya-zukuri manner, and the interior detailing closely resembles the reception wing on the same plot. The national database values the Himurean Annex as a clear case of how domestic life in the traditional Machiya of this district was modernising.
Its registration number is 25-0099. That a merchant household should add a separate building purely for retirement says something about how the Taisho era was changing expectations. The criterion applied was contribution to the historic landscape of the country.
What to look at
Stacking one room on another is a blunt solution for a townhouse extension. At the back of a plot with no room left to spread, the only way to add space was upward.
The resemblance to the reception wing matters too. The room where guests were received and the room where a retired householder spent the day were finished to the same standard. That tells you how the Himurean Annex was regarded.
Visiting
The Himurean Annex is closed to the public. It stands deep in the plot and cannot be seen from the street, and the soba restaurant at the front of the main house gives no route to it.
What is actually viewable at Himurean is the main house and the high wall from the old highway, and the reception wing and east storehouse from the road on the eastern side. Directions are set out on the Himurean page.
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Q&A
- Can you visit the Himurean Annex?
- No. It is closed to the public and cannot be seen from any public road.
- What kind of building is the Himurean Annex?
- A small two-storey block built as retirement quarters, with a single room on each floor and an exterior handled in the sukiya manner.
- How old is the Himurean Annex?
- It dates to around 1921, the same phase as the other 6 buildings here apart from the early 19th-century main house.
- Is the Himurean Annex an Important Cultural Property?
- No. It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, entered in December 1998 under registration number 25-0099.
- How big is the Himurean Annex?
- The floor area is 30 square metres, which makes it the smallest of the 7 registered items on the plot.
Basic Information
| Name | Himurean Annex (日牟禮庵離れ) |
|---|---|
| Location | 61 Nishimotocho, Omihachiman, Shiga Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 1998/12/11 (Heisei 10) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Two-storey timber frame, tiled roof, floor area 30 square metres |
| Owner | Private; no owner name recorded in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database |
| Public Access | Closed to the public and not visible from any public road |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Himurean Annex (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00000976
- National Cultural Properties Database, Himurean Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00000973
- Cultural Heritage Online, Himurean Main House
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/180883
- Omihachiman City, Cultural Properties
- https://www.city.omihachiman.lg.jp/kanko/rekishi/1/index.html
Last verified: 2026.09.17
