A Hill Farmhouse That Came Down to the River
The Former Miyazaki Family Residence (旧宮崎家住宅, Kyū Miyazaki-ke Jūtaku) is a late Edo-period farmhouse standing at Komagi-chō in Ome City, at the far northwestern edge of Tokyo, and it was designated an Important Cultural Property on 21 January 1978. The house does not sit where it was built. Its original site was the village of Kita-Kosogi, now the Yūgura area of Nariki 8-chōme, several kilometres further up into the hills, and it reached the bank of the Tama River only after the Miyazaki family handed the building over to the city in 1977.
The transfer took fourteen months. Dismantling and reassembly ran from April 1978 to June 1979, ending with the house set on a slope inside Kamanofuchi Park, a short walk from the Ome City Museum. Timber-frame buildings in Japan are made to come apart at the joints, so a move of this kind is closer to rebuilding from the original parts than to lifting a structure whole.
What arrived was an ordinary house. No lord lived here, no priest, no wealthy merchant. The Agency for Cultural Affairs classes it under the heading of folk dwellings, and its value rests on that ordinariness: the building shows how a farming family in the mountains west of Edo actually lived, and it shows it with unusually little later alteration.
Why an Unremarkable House Was Protected
The measurements are modest. The frame runs 12.4 metres along the ridge and 7.0 metres across, under an irimoya roof, the hipped-and-gabled form that slopes on all four sides but carries a small gable at the top. A pent roof extends over the east face, and a lower shed-roofed section covers the north side. The Agency dates the building to the mid-19th century, at the end of the Edo period.
Inside, the plan is what specialists call hiromagata, the broad-room type, laid out in three rooms. This arrangement puts a single large earth-floored or boarded room at the centre of daily life, with the smaller rooms opening off it, and it belongs to an older stratum of Japanese domestic planning than the four-room grid that spread later. Finding it intact this close to the capital is the point. The designation notice states that the house matters for understanding how folk dwellings were distributed across a band running from Tokyo into Saitama Prefecture.
One date deserves a note. Ome City describes the house as built in the early 19th century, while the Agency for Cultural Affairs assigns it to the mid-19th century. Both readings come from architectural style rather than a dated inscription, since no ridge tablet or ink record survives. Visitors are unlikely to notice the difference on site, but researchers should follow the national database.
The Roof Is the Thing to Look At
Stand back from the south side and look at the thatch. Around Ome, roofers did not use miscanthus alone. They laid cedar bark in among the grass, alternating the two materials, and the national record notes the cedar-bark covering on the northern shed roof as a separate element of the structure. The bark sheds water differently from the grass and weathers to a darker line, so the surface reads as banded rather than uniform when the light falls across it.
The interior is open to visitors, and an irori hearth is often lit. Smoke from a working hearth is not decoration. It cures the underside of the thatch and keeps insects out of the roof timbers, which is one reason the building survived long enough to be worth saving. Farm tools and household implements are set out in the rooms.
Entry is free, and the house is open from 10:00 to 17:00 in the warmer months and to 16:00 in winter, closed Mondays and over the New Year period; when a Monday falls on a public holiday the house opens and shuts the following weekday instead. Photography for personal use is generally accepted, though staff are usually on hand and it is worth asking before setting up. The Ome City Museum next door has been closed since 1 April 2025 for work on its ageing air-conditioning and lighting, but the city has confirmed that the Former Miyazaki Family Residence stays open on its normal schedule throughout.
Getting there from central Tokyo takes about ninety minutes. From JR Ome Station on the Ome Line it is roughly a fifteen-minute walk, or a Toei bus on the Ume 77 Komagi-chō loop to the Kyōdo Hakubutsukan-iriguchi stop, then five minutes on foot. Free parking is available in Kamanofuchi Park. The Tama River runs directly below, and in autumn the maples along the bank make the walk in worth taking slowly.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Tokyo
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Former Miyazaki Family Residence (formerly in Nariki, Ome City, Tokyo)
- [ Tokyo Skytree Asakusa & teamLab Experiences ]
Q&A
- Can the Former Miyazaki Family Residence be visited, and is there an admission charge?
- Yes. The house is open to the public including its interior, and admission is free. Opening hours are 10:00 to 17:00 in the warmer season and 10:00 to 16:00 in winter. It closes on Mondays and over the New Year holidays; when a Monday is a public holiday it opens that day and closes the next weekday.
- Where did the Former Miyazaki Family Residence originally stand?
- In the former village of Kita-Kosogi, now the Yūgura area of Nariki 8-chōme in the hills of northern Ome. The owner donated the building to Ome City in 1977, and it was dismantled and rebuilt on its present site between April 1978 and June 1979.
- What is unusual about the roof of the Former Miyazaki Family Residence?
- It is thatched with cedar bark laid alternately among the grass, a method particular to this district, and the shed roof on the north side is covered in cedar bark alone. The banding is visible from the ground in raking light.
- How do I reach the Former Miyazaki Family Residence from Ome Station?
- About fifteen minutes on foot from JR Ome Station on the Ome Line. By bus, take the Toei Ume 77 Komagi-chō loop service to Kyōdo Hakubutsukan-iriguchi and walk about five minutes. Free parking is available inside Kamanofuchi Park.
- Is the neighbouring Ome City Museum open when I visit the Former Miyazaki Family Residence?
- Not at present. The museum has been closed since 1 April 2025 while its ageing facilities are dealt with. Ome City has stated that the Former Miyazaki Family Residence and the other historic houses in its care continue to open as usual during the closure.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Miyazaki Family Residence (formerly located in Nariki, Ome City, Tokyo) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-684 Komagi-chō, Ome City, Tokyo (grounds of the Ome City Museum) |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (buildings), designation no. 02046 |
| Year Designated | 21 January 1978 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 12.4 m along the ridge by 7.0 m across; irimoya roof, thatched, with a pent roof on the east face and a cedar-bark shed roof on the north |
| Owner | Ome City |
| Public Access | Open, free of charge. 10:00 to 17:00 in the warmer season, to 16:00 in winter. Closed Mondays and New Year period. |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Former Miyazaki Family Residence
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/568
- Cultural Heritage Online — Former Miyazaki Family Residence
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/144268
- Ome City — Former Miyazaki Family Residence (Important Cultural Property)
- https://www.city.ome.tokyo.jp/site/provincial-history-museum/2729.html
- Ome City — Notice of the Ome City Museum closure
- https://www.city.ome.tokyo.jp/site/provincial-history-museum/82198.html
Last verified: 2026.08.22