One Main House, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property since 2000
Mitsubishi Electric Takanawa Manor House (三菱電機高輪荘主屋, Mitsubishi Denki Takanawaso Shuoku) stands at 2-6-11 Shirokanedai, Minato ward, Tokyo, a Showa-period building entered on the register of tangible cultural properties on 4 December 2000. It is a registered property rather than a designated one.
The quantity is one building. The owner is the company that holds the property.
The structure is timber, two-storeyed, tiled, with a floor area of 410 square metres. The date field reads early Showa, and the year field 1926 to 1988.
Three Sets of Rooms Ranged in Echelon
The rooms step sideways as they run west.
The Agency records an entrance and reception room at the east end, with sets of rooms ranged westward in echelon: 10 mats and 8, 8 and 8, 8 and 6.
Ranged in echelon means set at an angle to one another, like geese in flight. Three sets of two rooms each follow one upon the next.
The mat counts run 10 and 8, 8 and 8, 8 and 6, coming to 48 in all, and grow smaller towards the west.
The Manpukuji main hall is laid out on a hojo plan of 6 rooms, 2 deep and 3 across, its divisions regular.
Here each set sits offset from the last. The garden lies to the south, so every set looks out upon it.
Entrance and Reception Gathered at the East End
The rooms for receiving people are set together at one end.
The Agency records an entrance and reception room at the east end.
One enters there, receives guests in the reception room, and the tatami rooms follow westward. Receiving and living divide east from west.
At the Shotokukan main house, a porch at the centre has a reception wing to its left and a living wing to its right. There the division runs both ways from the middle.
Here it runs one way, from the east end westward. At the Manpukuji main hall, an entrance is set between the hall and the priests' quarters to the east.
Within 410 square metres, entrance, reception room and 3 sets of tatami rooms stand in order from east to west.
Valued for What It Shows of How the Land Was Developed
The reason rests not on the building but on the history of the ground it stands on.
The Agency closes that it is valuable for what it shows of how residential land in the western hills of the city was developed.
Those hills are the plateau west of the old centre, opened up for housing from Meiji times into Showa.
Not the making of the building nor its craft, but what it shows of how a district came to be built up, is what carries the assessment.
The former Takahashi main house was called one of the surviving examples of farmhouse building in its district. That too works by region, but concerns a type of building.
Here it is the development of the land itself. As a way of stating value this is the fifteenth met.
Visiting
The house stands at 2-6-11 Shirokanedai, Minato ward, Tokyo, owned by the company.
The Agency records that it was the Tokyo residence of a man who made his fortune in share dealing, standing south of a university. A private house has passed into corporate ownership.
It is timber and 2-storeyed, hip-and-gable in pantiles, a modern residence in Japanese style. The western wing on the same grounds is hipped and stands apart to the west.
At 410 square metres it is the largest of the 3 buildings on the grounds. The western wing covers 55 square metres and the storehouse 41 square metres.
A company owns the property, so opening and terms follow the owner's arrangements. Check before travelling.
Q&A
- When was the house registered?
- On 4 December 2000, as a registered tangible cultural property. It is registered rather than designated, and the quantity is one building.
- How are the rooms arranged?
- In three sets of two, ranged westward in echelon: 10 mats and 8, 8 and 8, 8 and 6, each set offset from the last.
- Where is the entrance?
- At the east end, together with the reception room. The rooms for receiving people are gathered at one end.
- What is valued in it?
- What it shows of how residential land in the western hills of the city was developed: an assessment resting on the ground rather than the building.
- How large is it?
- A floor area of 410 square metres, the largest of the three buildings on the grounds. The western wing covers 55 square metres and the storehouse 41 square metres.
Basic Information
| Name | Mitsubishi Electric Takanawa Manor House (三菱電機高輪荘主屋, Mitsubishi Denki Takanawaso Shuoku) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2-6-11 Shirokanedai, Minato ward, Tokyo |
| Designation | Registered tangible cultural property (structure, domestic architecture); registered rather than designated; 3 buildings on the same grounds were registered on the same day |
| Year Designated | 2000 (4 December), registered |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2-storeyed, tiled, with a floor area of 410 square metres. Hip-and-gable in pantiles, a modern residence in Japanese style, with an entrance and reception room at the east end and sets of rooms ranged westward in echelon: 10 mats and 8, 8 and 8, 8 and 6. The date field reads early Showa and the year field 1926 to 1988 |
| Owner | The company that holds the property |
| Public Access | Owned by a company; opening and terms follow the owner's arrangements |
References
- Cultural Heritage Online: the main house
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/137788
- Cultural Heritage Online: the western wing
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/193019
- Agency for Cultural Affairs database: the main house
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002018
- Minato ward
- https://www.city.minato.tokyo.jp/
Last verified: 2026.09.13
