The House the Innkeeper Built for Himself
Min'unkaku Ochiairo Residence Building and Corridor (眠雲閣落合樓住居棟及び廊下) dates from about 1935 and stands at the hot spring inn Ochiairo in Yugashima, Izu City, Shizuoka Prefecture; it was entered on the national register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on 9 February 2005. The residence is a timber building of two storeys above ground and one below, tiled, with a floor area of 128 square metres; the corridor is single-storey timber with a sheet-iron roof and a floor area of 20 square metres.
The name is literal. This was the innkeeper's own home, joined to the entrance building by the corridor that runs east from it. On a site otherwise given over to buildings made for guests, Min'unkaku Ochiairo Residence Building and Corridor is the one built for the people running the place.
Why It Is Registered
The criterion cited is that the building serves as a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database records that the elaborate lattice work in the fittings and the carefully chosen materials show the building technique of the early Shōwa era and the taste of the client at every turn.
The phrase about the client's taste is the interesting one. In a building put up for paying guests, the design answers to what guests expect. In a house you live in yourself, that constraint disappears. Min'unkaku Ochiairo Residence Building and Corridor was built on the same ground, in the same years, by the same hands as the guest wings, and differs from them only in whose judgement it answered to.
Registration came six years after the five buildings of the 1930s campaign, in 2005. Together with the reception building it brought the total at Min'unkaku Ochiairo to seven. Its register number is 22-0097.
What to Look At
Start with the section. A bathroom occupies the basement; the ground floor holds an entrance hall, a Western-style room, and Japanese rooms of 8 and 10 mats; the upper floor holds an 8-mat Japanese room and two more Western-style rooms. Such a stack only works on a slope, and here the fall of the land towards the river has been converted directly into storeys. The description "two above ground and one below" is a description of the site as much as of the house.
Then look at how Japanese and Western rooms are mixed. There are Western-style rooms on both floors, and upstairs they outnumber the Japanese room. The inn's own guest rooms are uniformly Japanese; inside Min'unkaku Ochiairo Residence Building and Corridor, the way the family actually chose to live comes to the surface. For a provincial house of around 1935 this is early for that combination.
Get close to the kumiko lattice in the fittings. The technique assembles slender strips into geometric patterns, and if the timber has not been dried properly the whole panel racks within a few years. That the work in Min'unkaku Ochiairo Residence Building and Corridor still holds true is evidence for the claim about carefully chosen materials. The corridor itself is plainer, a single storey of 20 square metres under sheet iron, but it is registered as part of the same property because it is the link that makes the plan work.
Visiting
Min'unkaku Ochiairo Residence Building and Corridor belongs to a working inn and is not open to the general public. It is now let as accommodation, so on days when it is occupied even other guests of the inn cannot enter. Of the seven buildings, this is among the hardest to see.
The corridor is different, since it carries the route east from the entrance building and guests do pass along it. The exterior of Min'unkaku Ochiairo Residence Building and Corridor is best seen from the courtyard behind the entrance building.
The inn publishes no statement on photography, and the rules for this part of the site depend on whether it is occupied, so follow what the staff say. Directions to the site and the conditions for staying are set out on the Min'unkaku Ochiairo page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Shizuoka
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Min'unkaku Ochiairo Residence Building and Corridor
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Questions and Answers
- What was Min'unkaku Ochiairo Residence Building and Corridor originally used for?
- It was the innkeeper's own house, linked to the entrance building by the corridor running east from it, and built for the family running the inn rather than for guests.
- How is Min'unkaku Ochiairo Residence Building and Corridor laid out?
- In three levels, with a bathroom in the basement. The ground floor has an entrance hall, a Western-style room and Japanese rooms of 8 and 10 mats; the upper floor has an 8-mat Japanese room and two Western-style rooms.
- When was Min'unkaku Ochiairo Residence Building and Corridor registered?
- On 9 February 2005, together with the reception building. That addition brought the number of registered buildings on the site to seven.
- What should I look for in Min'unkaku Ochiairo Residence Building and Corridor?
- The three-level section that exploits the slope, the mixture of Japanese and Western rooms, and the kumiko lattice work in the fittings. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes the client's taste showing at every turn.
- Can I look inside Min'unkaku Ochiairo Residence Building and Corridor?
- Not as a general visitor. It is now let as accommodation, so when it is occupied even other guests of the inn cannot go in.
Basic Information
| Name | Min'unkaku Ochiairo Residence Building and Corridor |
|---|---|
| Location | 1887-1 Yugashima, Izu City, Shizuoka Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2005 (Heisei 17) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Residence floor area 128 square metres; corridor floor area 20 square metres |
| Owner | Ochiairou Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Not open to the public; guests of the inn only |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Min'unkaku Ochiairo Residence Building and Corridor
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00004551
- Cultural Heritage Online: Min'unkaku Ochiairo Residence Building and Corridor
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/141821
- Izu City: Nationally Designated and Registered Cultural Properties
- https://www.city.izu.shizuoka.jp/soshiki/1013/8/3/1090.html
- Izu City: List of Cultural Properties in Izu City
- https://www.city.izu.shizuoka.jp/soshiki/1013/8/3/1020.html
Last verified: 2026.09.13
