Fukuda Family Residence Inner Room

Reception Rooms behind a Merchant House

The Fukuda Family Residence Inner Room (福田家住宅奥座敷) is a detached wing of reception rooms of the late Meiji period in Kamizaimokucho, Kanuma City, Tochigi Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on July 25, 2011 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Japanese name, okuzashiki, means the reception rooms at the back of a house.

The Agency records a 2-storey timber building roofed in tile, with a building area of 47 square metres; registration number 09-0195.

A 2-Storey Wing beyond the Passage

The Fukuda Family Residence Inner Room is a separate building reached from the main house by a covered passage. The Agency places it east of the main house; Kanuma City describes it as lying to the north-east.

It measures 7.4 metres along the ridge (Ketayuki) and 5.7 metres across (Harima). The ridge runs east to west under a gabled roof (Kirizuma-zukuri) of pantiles (Sangawara-buki), and the timber frame rises 2 storeys (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Each floor holds 2 tatami rooms set side by side from east to west, with a veranda along the south and west sides.

The building dates from the late Meiji period and, by the Agency's record, was moved around 1945. Where it stood before the move is not stated in the published sources.

Kanuma City notes that it served as lodging for Prince Mikasa (Takahito) in 1938. That stay predates the recorded relocation, and the sources at hand do not show where the Fukuda Family Residence Inner Room stood at the time.

Why It Was Registered

The Fukuda Family Residence Inner Room was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency describes it as an open and dignified reception space of the modern era. The rooms a merchant household set aside for receiving guests survive here together as one 2-storey building.

What to Look For

The principal room is the centre of the Fukuda Family Residence Inner Room, and the Agency notes its fine alcove fittings (Zashiki-kazari). The sources do not describe those fittings in detail.

The veranda wraps the south and west sides. Kanuma City explains that it was arranged for viewing the inner garden. With the 2 rooms set east to west, both open toward the garden along the southern veranda.

Visiting

The Fukuda Family Residence Inner Room is privately owned and stands at the back of the plot. Neither the Agency nor Kanuma City gives information on interior access (checked November 2026), and it has not been confirmed that the building can be seen from the road.

There is no official guidance on photography. Please do not enter the grounds. The street front of the shop and directions from the stations are covered on the Fukuda Family Residence (Kanuma) page.