One Gassho-Zukuri House, an Important Cultural Property since 1958
Haba Family Residence (Taira, Higashitonami District, Toyama Prefecture) (羽馬家住宅, Haba-ke Jutaku) stands at 254 Tamukai, Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture, an Edo-period building listed as an Important Cultural Property on 14 May 1958. The listing is as an Important Cultural Property, not a National Treasure.
The quantity is one building. The reading field gives the family name as Haba.
The structure measures 14.3 metres along the front and 8.8 metres deep, single-storeyed with three levels within, gabled and entered at the gable end, with eaves on the west and east sides, thatched. The place in brackets is the village as it stood at the time of listing, not the city named in the address, as with the Imose residence.
The Two Records Narrow the Date Very Differently
How closely the date is fixed differs widely between records.
The Agency writes that the building probably dates from before the middle Edo period. The word probably appears, and only an upper limit is given.
Its date field reads middle Edo, 1661 to 1750: a span of ninety years.
Nanto City, by contrast, places it around the Kanbun era, 1661 to 1672, by comparison with partial evidence from other gassho-zukuri houses. A span of twelve years.
With the Jokomyoji site map, an undated document was narrowed to two years by two conditions. That reasoning sits within one record.
Here the same building carries spans of ninety years and twelve. The Kuwanomidera main hall was given fifty-nine years and the Kumatori hall fifty-seven.
Bought from Another Hamlet and Moved Here after a Fire
How the house came to stand on this spot is recorded.
Nanto City records that after fire destroyed most of the hamlet in 1769, an old gassho-zukuri house was bought from a settlement four kilometres downstream and re-erected here.
A house lost to fire, and an old house bought elsewhere and carried in.
At the Imose residence, a house was built anew after fire spread through the village. At the Raigoji main hall in Matsusaka, rebuilding followed a great fire. Both are rebuildings.
At the former Gakushuin hall, a building was moved twice from Tokyo to Chiba, by way of a sale from above.
Here fire and relocation come together, and the house was bought. As a way of recording why a building stands where it does, this is the sixth met. Dismantling and repair were carried out in 1963.
The Owner Is Recorded Three Ways
Whose house it is is written differently in each record.
The Agency writes that it is the house of the Haba family and two others: a count of parties.
Nanto City records the owner simply as privately held, naming no one.
This site's record leaves the owner field empty.
With the nine-storied pagoda, Cultural Heritage Online named a hamlet and this site named one person and twenty-five others: a community and a count.
Here there are three forms: a record giving a count, a record saying only that it is private, and a record with nothing at all. The Fukuda residence also left the owner field empty.
Visiting
The house stands at 254 Tamukai, Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture.
The plan is described: four rooms, of which two measure only one bay along the front, making the building very small in scale.
The two records agree in their assessment. The Agency writes that the house preserves the oldest form of the gassho-zukuri farmhouse well.
Nanto City writes that among the farmhouses of the Gokayama district it shows the earliest stage of the gassho-zukuri form, and that with little later alteration it retains its original appearance best of all.
Signs of that early form are listed: slender timber throughout, one room closed on almost every side with a single heavy-framed doorway, an interior clear height of a set traditional measure, and members finished with adze and spear plane. It is a private house, and access follows the owner's arrangements. Check before travelling.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Toyama
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Haba Family Residence (Taira, Higashitonami District, Toyama Prefecture)
- [ Kurobe Gorge Train & Tateyama Alpine Route ]
Q&A
- When was the house listed?
- On 14 May 1958, as an Important Cultural Property rather than a National Treasure. The quantity is one building.
- How is the family name read?
- As Haba. Both Cultural Heritage Online and Nanto City give that reading.
- When was it built?
- The records differ in how closely they fix it. The Agency gives 1661 to 1750 and says probably before the middle Edo period; Nanto City places it around 1661 to 1672.
- Why does it stand here?
- Nanto City records that after fire destroyed most of the hamlet in 1769, an old house was bought from a settlement four kilometres downstream and re-erected on this site.
- What is valued in it?
- That it preserves the oldest form of the gassho-zukuri farmhouse, showing the earliest stage of that form with little later alteration.
Basic Information
| Name | Haba Family Residence (羽馬家住宅, Haba-ke Jutaku); the place in brackets is the village as it stood at the time of listing |
|---|---|
| Location | 254 Tamukai, Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (structure, domestic architecture); not a National Treasure |
| Year Designated | 1958 (14 May), Important Cultural Property |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 14.3 metres along the front and 8.8 metres deep, single-storeyed with 3 levels within, gabled and entered at the gable end, with eaves on the west and east sides, thatched. 4 rooms, of which 2 measure only 1 bay along the front, with an interior clear height of 5 shaku 6 sun. The date field reads middle Edo, 1661 to 1750 |
| Owner | The Agency names the family and 2 others; Nanto City records it as privately held; this site's field is empty |
| Public Access | A private house; access follows the owner's arrangements |
References
- Cultural Heritage Online: the Haba family residence
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/155285
- Nanto City: the Haba family residence
- https://culture-archives.city.nanto.toyama.jp/culture/bunkazai/bunkazai0004/
- Cultural heritage of Toyama
- https://toyama-bunkaisan.jp/search/1526/
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/
Last verified: 2026.09.10