What the Marui Family Residence Detached Wing Is
The Marui Family Residence Detached Wing (丸井家住宅離れ, Marui-ke Jūtaku Hanare) is a 2-storey reception building built in 1917 at the southern end of the Marui family estate in Etchumachi, Kurayoshi City, Tottori Prefecture, and it was entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on October 27, 2017.
The Marui Family Residence Detached Wing stands at the centre of the southern edge of the plot, as far from the street as the estate allows, right beside the Tamagawa, a narrow canal. It is a timber building of 2 storeys with a gabled roof, Kirizuma-zukuri, laid with interlocking pantiles, Sangawara-buki, and a building area of 41 square meters. It is the only one of the six registered Marui structures dated to 1917, a year after the rest. A corridor running along the north face of the storehouse next door connects the two.
Why the Marui Family Residence Detached Wing Was Registered
The Marui Family Residence Detached Wing was registered, as no. 31-233, under the criterion of a building that sets a model for its type. The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out the arrangement of its rooms and the formality of the upper floor.
Each floor has the same two rooms: a Zashiki, the main reception room, and an anteroom beside it. The difference is orientation. The zashiki on the upper floor faces the opposite way from the one below, so two identical floors are made to feel different.
The upper zashiki has a Saobuchi-tenjō, a ceiling of boards held by slender battens, here using straight-grained cedar. It also has a Tokowaki, the shelved recess beside the alcove, and a Tsukeshoin, a built-in writing desk set into a window bay. Straight-grained cedar is a premium material, and the alcove recess and desk bay together mark a formal room for receiving guests. The Agency describes the upper floor as showing a high level of formality.
The Detached Wing on Its Stone Base
The Marui Family Residence Detached Wing rests on a foundation wall of dressed, squared stone. At the edge of a plot that meets the canal, that stonework is what the building stands on.
Where the main house addresses the street, the Marui Family Residence Detached Wing puts its two formal rooms at the opposite end of the estate, facing the water. No published source records how the Marui family, known for tea, used the upper room. What the Agency's description does establish is the plan itself: the most formal rooms of the estate placed at its quietest edge.
Visiting the Marui Family Residence Detached Wing
The Marui Family Residence Detached Wing lies at the back of a private estate and cannot be seen from the street on the north side. Kurayoshi City lists the Marui Family Residence as closed inside.
The building stands beside the Tamagawa canal, but published sources do not say whether the wing or its stone base can be seen from the canal side or the far bank.
Q&A
- Can I visit the Marui Family Residence Detached Wing?
- No. The Marui Family Residence Detached Wing is at the back of a private estate, and Kurayoshi City lists the property as closed inside. It cannot be seen from the street.
- When was the Marui Family Residence Detached Wing built and registered?
- It was built in 1917 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 27, 2017, under number 31-233.
- What is special about the rooms of the Marui Family Residence Detached Wing?
- Each floor has a reception room and an anteroom, but the reception rooms face opposite ways on the two floors. The upper one has a batten ceiling of straight-grained cedar, a shelved recess and a built-in writing bay.
- Where on the estate is the Marui Family Residence Detached Wing?
- At the centre of the southern edge, beside the Tamagawa canal, on a foundation wall of dressed stone. A corridor along the north face of the neighbouring storehouse links the two buildings.
- How big is the Marui Family Residence Detached Wing?
- It is a 2-storey timber building with a gabled, pantiled roof and a building area of 41 square meters.
Basic Information
| Name | Marui Family Residence Detached Wing (丸井家住宅離れ) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2148 Etchumachi and other lots, Kurayoshi City, Tottori Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registration no. 31-233 |
| Year Designated | Registered October 27, 2017 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building area 41 square meters |
| Owner | Unknown (not listed in the Agency database) |
| Public Access | Closed |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Maruike Jutaku Hanare
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00012014
- Cultural Heritage Online: Maruike Jutaku Hanare
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/256575
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Maruike Jutaku Dozo
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00012015
- Kurayoshi City: Cultural Properties of the Uwanada, Seitoku and Meirin Districts
- https://www.city.kurayoshi.lg.jp/gyousei/div/kyouiku/bunkazai/1/1/5/
Last verified: 2026.10.04
