What Is the Harada Family Residence Main House?
The Harada Family Residence Main House (原田家住宅主屋, Harada-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a single-storey timber dwelling of around 1942 in Tori 6-chome, Ashikaga City, Tochigi Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on November 10, 2005 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The Agency records a single-storey timber building with a tile roof and a building area of 121 square metres, built around 1942 and relocated by hikiya in 1978; registration number 09-0123.
A Pre-War Home behind the Shop
The Harada Family Residence Main House is built against the south wall of the store that fronts the street (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Harada family had been dealing in raw silk and twisted yarn since around 1897 (Ashikaga City); this house went up some twenty years after their store of around 1920.
It has a hipped roof of pantiles and mortar-rendered walls (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The store in front has a gable roof and boarded walls, while the Harada Family Residence Main House slopes its roof on all four sides and finishes its walls in render. Within a single plot, a Taisho shop and a Showa house show their different dates on the outside.
Why It Was Registered
The Harada Family Residence Main House was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency notes that although 2 rooms were added on the south side, the house keeps its pre-war central-corridor plan. Ashikaga City makes the same point, calling it a Japanese-style central-corridor house of the pre-war years.
In a central-corridor plan a passage runs through the middle of the house so that each room can be reached without walking through another. It spread through Japanese housing during the Taisho era and the pre-war Showa years as families came to want more privacy indoors. The Harada Family Residence Main House shows the plan adopted for the living quarters behind a merchant's shop.
Rooms on Either Side of a Corridor
The entrance of the Harada Family Residence Main House is at the northeast corner. It opens to a room of 10 tatami mats, and a corridor runs south from there (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
On the east side of the corridor are a living room of 8 mats and the wet areas; on the west side are 2 further living rooms (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The wet areas are gathered on one side and the family rooms placed on the other. On the south side, 2 rooms were added later.
The building area of 121 square metres is more than 2.5 times the 45 square metres of the store in front (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
What to Look For
From outside, the roof is the thing to notice on the Harada Family Residence Main House. A hipped roof slopes in four directions, and its outline differs from the two-storey gabled store (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The key to the plan is the 10-mat room next to the entrance and the corridor running south from it. The 10-mat room sits close to the door; the 8-mat room and the wet areas are ranged further along the corridor (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Visiting
The Harada Family Residence Main House stands behind the store, and it is the store that faces the street. The property is privately owned (Ashikaga City), and no official information was found on interior access or photography. Stay off the property.
The Harada Family Residence Main House was moved about 4 metres by hikiya in 1978, when the old National Route 50 was widened (Ashikaga City). Directions from the nearest stations are on the page for the Harada Family Residence (Ashikaga).
Q&A
- When was the Harada Family Residence Main House built?
- Around 1942 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Ashikaga City gives the year without qualification.
- Can I visit the Harada Family Residence Main House?
- It is privately owned and no official information on interior access was found. It stands behind the store that faces the street.
- How is the Harada Family Residence Main House laid out?
- An entrance at the northeast corner leads to a 10-mat room; a corridor runs south with an 8-mat room and wet areas to the east and 2 rooms to the west, a central-corridor plan (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- How is the name of the Harada Family Residence Main House read in Japanese?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs and Ashikaga City read 主屋 as shuoku; Tochigi Prefecture's cultural property site gives omoya.
- When was the Harada Family Residence Main House registered?
- On November 10, 2005 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Basic Information
| Name | Harada Family Residence Main House (原田家住宅主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 6-3225-1 Tori, Ashikaga City, Tochigi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered November 10, 2005 (Heisei 17) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, single storey, tile roof, building area 121 m² |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | No information on interior access (stands behind the store) |
References
- Harada Family Residence Main House (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00004915
- Harada Family Residence Main House (Cultural Heritage Online, Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/151525
- Harada Family Residence: Store and Main House (Ashikaga City, Japanese)
- https://www.city.ashikaga.tochigi.jp/education/000029/000169/000627/p000813.html
- Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, Structures (Ashikaga City, Japanese)
- https://www.city.ashikaga.tochigi.jp/education/000029/000169/000627/p001307.html
- Harada Family Residence Main House (Tochigi no Bunkazai, Tochigi Prefecture, Japanese)
- https://bunkazai.pref.tochigi.lg.jp/cultural/%E3%80%90%E5%8E%9F%E7%94%B0%E5%AE%B6%E4%BD%8F%E5%AE%85%E4%B8%BB%E5%B1%8B%E3%80%91/
Last verified: 2026.11.11
