Inoue Family Residence (Former Iwata Family Residence)

What Is the Inoue Family Residence (Former Iwata Family Residence)?

The Inoue Family Residence (Former Iwata Family Residence) (井上家住宅（旧岩田家住宅）, Inoue-ke Jūtaku, Kyū Iwata-ke Jūtaku) is a farmhouse estate in Nakamitani, Kinokawa City, Wakayama Prefecture, whose main house of around 1916, late Edo storehouse, early Taishō earthen wall and 1970 nagayamon gate became four Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on 7 August 2023.

The estate sits on a river terrace on the north bank of the middle Kinokawa, with farmland all around. The bracketed part of the registered name records that the property was once the home of the Iwata family. According to Wakayama Prefecture, the Inoue Family Residence is now also used as a Zen practice hall, and the prefecture's heritage map labels the site Gentōan (玄燈庵).

A different farmhouse, registered in 1996 simply as the Inoue Family Residence, stands in Kitano in Wakayama City, about 9 kilometers to the west. The two are separate properties.

Four Registrations, One Estate

On 17 March 2023 the Council for Cultural Affairs recommended the four structures of the Inoue Family Residence (Former Iwata Family Residence) for the national register, and they were entered as Registered Tangible Cultural Property in the 105th round of registrations on 7 August 2023. They carry the consecutive numbers 30-0335 to 30-0338, all under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database gives the following dates and sizes.

• Main house: around 1916, altered in the later Shōwa period. 2-storey timber building, tiled roof, building area 181 square meters
• Storehouse: late Edo period, extended in the early Taishō period, repaired in 1995. 2-storey earthen-walled storehouse, tiled roof, building area 24 square meters
• Nagayamon gate: 1970. Single-storey timber building, tiled roof, building area 81 square meters
• Earthen wall: early Taishō period. Tiled coping, total length 59 meters

The database defines the late Edo period here as 1830 to 1868 and the early Taishō period as 1912 to 1918, so more than a century separates the oldest structure, the storehouse, from the newest, the gate.

How the Estate Is Laid Out

The Inoue Family Residence (Former Iwata Family Residence) meets the lane along its south side, where a water channel runs beside the road. The nagayamon gate faces that lane and channel. Through the gate, the main house stands in the middle of the plot, facing south.

The storehouse occupies the northwest corner with its door facing east. The earthen wall starts just west of the gate, runs along the south and west edges, meets the storehouse, turns along the north side and ends at the northeast corner. Because the outer wall of the storehouse is continuous with the earthen wall, storehouse and wall together form the boundary of the estate.

From outside, what you actually see is the gate on the lane and the earthen wall on its stone base. Wakayama Prefecture singles out the way the four buildings together give the estate its settled, enclosed character.

Visiting and Getting There

The Inoue Family Residence (Former Iwata Family Residence) is privately owned. We found no regular public opening for sightseeing in the prefectural or city listings. Zazen meetings held there as a Zen practice hall are limited in size and require booking through the teacher's official website; they are religious practice, not tours of the buildings.

The gate and the earthen wall can be seen from the lane. The main house stands well behind the gate and the storehouse is tucked into the far corner, so neither is easy to see from outside. The lane is a local road, so stay off private land and keep clear of traffic.

The nearest station is Shimo-Isaka on the JR Wakayama Line. The Inoue Family Residence lies about 1.8 kilometers north of the station in a straight line; allow around 30 minutes on foot.