Tsunematsu Family Residence

About the Tsunematsu Family Residence

The Tsunematsu Family Residence (常松家住宅, Tsunematsu-ke Jūtaku) is a landowner's homestead in Gui, Hikawa-cho, Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture, laid out largely around 1874, whose main house, annex, main storehouse, middle gate and front gate were entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 29, 2019. The five structures carry the consecutive registration numbers 32-191 to 32-195.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs introduces the Tsunematsu Family Residence as the home of a landowning family in a village on the east bank of the Hii River, which crosses the Izumo Plain on its way to Lake Shinji. Only the main house was registered as a model of form; the other four were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape. Together they keep the whole framework of a rural estate: a thatched house to live in, a tiled wing, a storehouse, and two gates that control how you enter.

The Council for Cultural Affairs recommended the five for registration on November 16, 2018, and the registration took effect in March of the following year.

Five Structures, One Moment

The national database gives these construction dates and later repairs for the Tsunematsu Family Residence:

• Main house: around 1874, with repairs around the Taisho era and in 1984
• Annex: early Meiji era, with repairs around the Taisho era and in the 1955 to 1964 decade
• Main storehouse: around 1874, repaired around 1998
• Middle gate: around 1874, repaired in 1986
• Front gate: around 1874, repaired in 1986

Four of the five are dated to around 1874, which suggests the house, the storehouse and both gates were put in place as a single project in the seventh year of Meiji. The annex is recorded only as early Meiji, and the published sources do not say whether it came before or after the main house. Both gates were repaired in the same year, 1986, which reads like one campaign of work on the entrances.

As of September 2026 we found no public source on the history of the Tsunematsu family itself or on how large its landholdings were.

How the Estate Is Arranged

Everything at the Tsunematsu Family Residence is organized around the main house, which stands in the middle of the plot facing south. The annex is joined to its east side and runs north to south, so that the two buildings form an L. The Agency for Cultural Affairs treats this pair as the core of the estate.

The main storehouse sits behind the main house, on the north side of the plot, and also faces south. From the center of the main house's front, a wall runs south and splits the space in front of the house into east and west halves. The middle gate opens in this wall; the Agency describes it as a garden gate marking off the front garden of the main house.

The front gate stands on the south edge of the plot, toward the east, directly opposite the main house's entrance. Walk straight through it and you arrive at the door of the house, and the formal face of the estate is built along that line.

Materials change from building to building: thatch on the main house, tiles on the two-story annex, white plaster on the storehouse, zelkova for the middle gate and Japanese cedar for the front gate. Each structure has its own page with the details.

Visiting the Tsunematsu Family Residence

The Tsunematsu Family Residence is a private home, and Izumo City's list of cultural properties records its owner as a private individual. As of September 2026 we found no official notice of openings or tours. A visit means looking at the exteriors from the road without entering the grounds.

We also found no guidance on photography. People live here, so please do not peer through the gates, and keep residents, cars and laundry out of your pictures.

The estate lies on the east bank of the Hii River, about 3 kilometers east of JR Izumo-shi Station on the San'in Main Line in a straight line, and about 2.7 kilometers southwest of JR Naoe Station on the same line. There is no official public transport guidance, so check the route on a map before you set out.