About the Yatagai Family Residence Main House
The Yatagai Family Residence Main House (矢田貝家住宅主屋, Yatagai-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a farmhouse built in 1854 at the center of the Yatagai Family Residence in Kamihosomi, Hōki Town, Tottori Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2011.
It stands a little east of the middle of the plot, on the right bank of the Hino River, and faces east. The house measures 18 m by 12 m, with a building area of 204 square meters. It is a timber house with a low Tsushi-nikai upper floor tucked under a gabled roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles, and lean-to roofs, Geya, are added on the south and east.
Inside, the house divides north from south. The northern half holds the earth-floored work area and the everyday living rooms. The southern half is raised on a timber floor and carries six rooms in two rows, the front ones kept for receiving guests. The national database calls the house single-story in its structural summary and two-story with a low upper floor in its commentary.
Why the Yatagai Main House was registered
The Yatagai Family Residence Main House was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out its plan, an earth-floored area beside a raised floor of six rooms in two rows, as a good example of the Tottori regional farmhouse type. Tottori Prefecture describes it the same way.
Its date is secure. A ridge tag placed at the raising of the frame survives in the upper floor and carries the year 1854. According to the family history published by Shimane University researchers, that was the year the founder of this branch bought land in Kamihosomi and set up his own household, so building the house and founding the family went together.
Later changes can be followed on house-divination plans kept by the family. Fujiki Tatsuya's paper shows that the raised floor at first had five rooms, two at the front and three at the back. By 1860 a toilet and bath had been added as a wing on the south. By 1879 the lean-to at the back had been widened, the southwest room split into two, and the earth-floored area at the north extended. The plan seen today was essentially in place by then.
The national database records alterations and an extension in the early Shōwa period and further repairs in 1984 and 1988. The Shōwa extension includes a wing added onto the earth-floored end of the house, probably during the war, which the family called the new study. Fujiki reads it as a folk-craft-style room, combining a traditional ceiling with a board floor and a glazed bay window.
What to look for in the Yatagai Main House
Start with the upper floor. Fujiki describes a low loft reached by a ladder stair from the room called the Mise. Lofts like this are common in Edo-period farmhouses, but they are not usually built over the earth-floored area. In the Yatagai Main House a joisted floor runs over that area too, giving a broad loft. Fujiki suggests that in the early years there was no storehouse on the site, so the family needed the space for household goods.
The roof has changed color over time. It was once laid with red-brown Sekishū tiles, with stones along the ridge, and is said to have been re-covered around 1988 in the black smoked pantiles and stacked-tile ridge seen today.
From the road you see the east front through the Nagayamon Gate. Photographs from the late Meiji and Taishō eras show the Yatagai Main House facing the road directly. The view of the house framed by the gate dates only from 1940, when the gate was moved into place.
Visiting the Yatagai Family Residence Main House
The Yatagai Family Residence Main House is privately owned and is not regularly open as a cultural property. Even when the estate is let as a café or event space, which rooms of the house can be entered depends on how it is being used at the time. The east front can be seen through the Nagayamon Gate from National Route 181. No photography policy is published. Directions and visiting conditions for the estate are on the Yatagai Family Residence page.
Q&A
- When was the Yatagai Family Residence Main House built, and how is the date known?
- It was built in 1854. The year is written on the ridge tag from the raising of the frame, which survives in the upper floor. The house was altered and extended in the early Shōwa period and repaired again in 1984 and 1988.
- What is the plan of the Yatagai Family Residence Main House?
- The northern half holds the earth-floored work area and living rooms; the southern half is a raised floor of six rooms in two rows, with the front rooms for guests. The raised floor first had five rooms, and the present plan was in place by 1879.
- What is the upper floor of the Yatagai Main House like?
- It is a low loft under the roof, reached by a ladder stair from the Mise room. Unusually, it extends over the earth-floored area as well as the living rooms.
- Why is the Yatagai Family Residence Main House a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered on July 25, 2011, for its contribution to the historic landscape. Its plan of an earth-floored area and six rooms in two rows is a good example of the Tottori regional farmhouse type.
- Can I go inside the Yatagai Main House?
- It is not regularly open. Even when the estate is let as a café or event space, which rooms you can enter varies. The east front can be seen through the Nagayamon Gate from National Route 181. Ask the Hōki Town Board of Education lifelong learning office before visiting.
Basic Information
| Name | Yatagai Family Residence Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | 486 Kamihosomi and other lots, Hōki Town, Saihaku District, Tottori Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered July 25, 2011 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 18 m × 12 m in plan; building area 204 m² |
| Owner | Private (no owner named in the national database) |
| Public Access | Not regularly open; the east front can be seen through the Nagayamon Gate from National Route 181 |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Yatagai Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008754
- Cultural Heritage Online: Yatagai Family Residence Main House
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/195095
- Tottori Bunkazai Navi (Tottori Prefecture Cultural Properties Division): Yatagai Family Residence
- https://db.pref.tottori.jp/bunkazainavi.nsf/bunkazai_web_view/117213810028FEE749257C5A00296E73
- Hoki Town: Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Yatagai Family Residence)
- https://www.houki-town.jp/new1/10/20/2/5/4/01/
- Nikaido Yukinobu et al., "History of the Yatagai Family," Studies of San'in Region Extra Issue 2 (Shimane University, 2026)
- https://ir.lib.shimane-u.ac.jp/55736
- Fujiki Tatsuya, "The Yatagai Family Residence as Revealed Through Kaso Diagrams and Diaries," Studies of San'in Region Extra Issue 2 (Shimane University, 2026)
- https://ir.lib.shimane-u.ac.jp/55741
Last verified: 2026.10.07
