A single-storey wing off the main house
The Wakabayashi Family Residence Kitchen Wing (若林家住宅台所棟, Wakabayashi-ke Jūtaku Daidokorotō) is a single-storey wooden building constructed in 1928 in Inukata-cho, Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 29 November 2016. It steps off diagonally from the southeast corner of the main house and has a building area of 72 square metres.
The roof, laid with Sangawara-buki pantiles, changes shape from one end to the other. The west end is a hip-and-gable (Irimoya-zukuri) roof with layered gables, the east end a plain gable (Kirizuma-zukuri). A lean-to roof (Geya) wraps around the building, and glazed windows fill the walls beneath it.
Inside are the lady's sitting room, the kitchen and the bath. The name says kitchen, but the wing combines the working heart of the house with a private room for the woman of the household.
Why it was registered
The Wakabayashi Family Residence Kitchen Wing was registered as a model of architectural design, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out the free-spirited Sukiya-zukuri detailing of the lady's sitting room.
Part of that room's ceiling is a kakekomi ceiling, which carries the slope of the eaves into the room so the ceiling dips at an angle. It is a device borrowed from tea-house design, and it makes the height of the room shift as you move through it.
The room also has a tsuridoko, a suspended alcove: instead of a raised floor panel, only a lintel and a short section of wall hang near the ceiling to suggest a tokonoma. Here the alcove is triangular in plan, an inventive twist on an already informal form. That a room this carefully worked sits in the same wing as the kitchen says a good deal about the standard of the whole house.
What to look for
The key to reading the Wakabayashi Family Residence Kitchen Wing is the difference between its two ends. The west end, facing the main house and reception wing, wears a formal hip-and-gable roof with doubled gables; the east end, at the back of the plot, finishes in a simple gable. The building shows a different face depending on who is looking.
The glazing set around the lean-to echoes the glass-windowed veranda of the main house, bringing daylight even into the service rooms, very much a mark of a house built in the early Shōwa years.
Both the sloping ceiling and the triangular alcove are inside the sitting room, out of sight from the road.
Visiting
The Wakabayashi Family Residence Kitchen Wing is part of a private home and its interior is not open to the public. It sits southeast of the main house, deep inside the plot, and cannot be seen from the road on the north side.
The owner rents part of the house as event space and holds occasional tea ceremony and flower arrangement events, but you will need to ask if the kitchen wing is included. Visiting conditions and directions for the whole estate are on the Wakabayashi Family Residence page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Shiga
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Wakabayashi Family Residence Kitchen Wing
- [ Hikone Castle & Lake Biwa Cruise Experiences ]
Q&A
- Can you visit the Wakabayashi Family Residence Kitchen Wing?
- Its interior is not open to the public, and because it stands deep inside the plot it cannot be seen from the road either. Ask in advance if it can be entered during the owner's events.
- What is inside the Wakabayashi Family Residence Kitchen Wing?
- The lady's sitting room, the kitchen and the bath. The sitting room has a partly sloping kakekomi ceiling and a suspended alcove that is triangular in plan.
- What kind of roof does the Wakabayashi Family Residence Kitchen Wing have?
- A pantiled roof that is hip-and-gable with layered gables at the west end and a plain gable at the east end, with a lean-to around the building and glazed windows beneath it.
- When was the Wakabayashi Family Residence Kitchen Wing built?
- In 1928, the same year as the main house and the Western-style wing. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 29 November 2016.
- Why was the Wakabayashi Family Residence Kitchen Wing registered?
- It was registered as a model of architectural design, chiefly for the free-spirited sukiya detailing of the lady's sitting room, with its sloping kakekomi ceiling and triangular suspended alcove.
Basic Information
| Name | Wakabayashi Family Residence Kitchen Wing (若林家住宅台所棟) |
|---|---|
| Location | 758 Inukata-cho, Hikone, Shiga Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registration No. 25-0386, criterion: a model of architectural design |
| Year Designated | Registered 2016/11/29 (Heisei 28) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Wooden, single storey, pantiled roof, building area 72 square metres |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (not visible from the road) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Wakabayashi Family Residence Kitchen Wing
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00011337
- List of Designated and Registered Cultural Properties in Hikone (Hikone City)
- https://www.city.hikone.lg.jp/kakuka/kanko_bunka/8/2_2/4655.html
- Wakabayashi Family Residence (Shiga Association of Registered Tangible Cultural Property Owners)
- https://shiga-tobunkai.org/catalogue/koto/431
- Wakabayashi Family Residence (owner-run website, Japanese)
- https://shiga-bunka.com/
Last verified: 2026.09.26
