About the Higashikadowaki Family Residence Dressing Room
The Higashikadowaki Family Residence Dressing Room (東門脇家住宅化粧部屋, Higashi-Kadowaki-ke Jūtaku Keshōbeya) is a small outbuilding containing a dressing room, bath and toilet, built around 1918 in Tokorogo, Daisen Town, Tottori Prefecture, and entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on July 12, 2005. It is a single-story timber building under a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof of Sangawara-buki pan tiles, with a building area of 15 square meters and an attached wall.
The dressing room building stands south of the main house, its ridge running north to south. At 2.5 by 2 ken it is modest in size. It was one of two Higashikadowaki structures, along with the barn, added to the register about eight months after the first seven.
Dressing Room to the North, Bath and Toilet to the South
Inside, the Higashikadowaki Dressing Room is split in two: the dressing room at the north end, a bath and toilet at the south. Grooming and washing were gathered into one small building set a little apart from the main house, a sign of how a prosperous farming household of the Taisho years arranged its daily routines.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the room layout but says nothing about who used the dressing room or exactly how. Its position next to the bath points to getting dressed after bathing, but the published sources go no further than that.
A Garden Wall With a Small Gate
At the northwest corner of the Higashikadowaki Dressing Room, a garden wall with a small inner gate runs in from the south face of the main house. Wall and building together form a line that separates the forecourt in front of the main entrance from the garden in front of the formal rooms.
A guest coming through the front gate crosses the forecourt to the entrance. The garden seen from the reception rooms lies on the other side of the wall, reached only through the inner gate. So this little outbuilding also marks the boundary between the public front of the estate and its private inner side, and the agency names that role among the reasons it matters.
Why the Dressing Room Was Registered
The Higashikadowaki Family Residence Dressing Room was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. It is small on its own, but it sits on the line between forecourt and garden and helps give the estate its spatial order.
Seeing the Higashikadowaki Dressing Room
The Higashikadowaki Dressing Room stands inside the estate, near the garden south of the main house, so it is hardly visible from the road. The estate is a private home that is not open to the public, and the building is closed. Please do not look in through the front gate or step through it.
No official guidance on photography could be found as of September 2026. The best approach is to know where the building sits and picture it behind the gate row house as you walk the south road.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Tottori
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Higashikadowaki Family Residence Dressing Room
- [ Tottori Sand Dunes & Camel Riding Experience ]
Q&A
- What is the Higashikadowaki Family Residence Dressing Room?
- A single-story timber outbuilding with a dressing room at the north end and a bath and toilet at the south. Its building area is 15 square meters, and a wall is attached.
- When was the Higashikadowaki Dressing Room built?
- Around 1918 (Taisho 7).
- Where does the Higashikadowaki Dressing Room stand on the estate?
- South of the main house. With a garden wall and inner gate running from the main house, it separates the forecourt from the garden in front of the formal rooms.
- When did the Higashikadowaki Family Residence Dressing Room become a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- On July 12, 2005. It and the barn were the two structures on the estate added after the first seven were registered.
- Can I see the Higashikadowaki Dressing Room from the road?
- Hardly, because it stands inside the estate. The property is not open to the public and visitors cannot enter the grounds.
Basic Information
| Name | Higashikadowaki Family Residence Dressing Room (東門脇家住宅化粧部屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 425 Tokorogo, Daisen-cho, Saihaku-gun, Tottori Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | 2005 (registered) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 15 m²; with attached wall (timber, 1 story) |
| Owner | Not disclosed |
| Public Access | Not open (barely visible from the road) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Higashikadowaki Family Residence Dressing Room
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00004819
- Daisen Town: Higashikadowaki Family Residence (Japanese)
- https://www.daisen.jp/10/33/1/s148/p136/
- Daisen Town: Daisen-cho Tokorogo Preservation District (Japanese)
- https://www.daisen.jp/10/33/2/1/
Last verified: 2026.09.29
