About the Kubota Family Residence New Reception Wing
The Kubota Family Residence New Reception Wing (久保田家住宅新座敷, Kubota-ke Jūtaku Shinzashiki) is a 1-story wooden wing of formal rooms built in the early Taishō period (1912 to 1918) in Komatsubara, Yukawa-chō, Gobo City, Wakayama Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on June 24, 2021. It was added beside the Edo-period main house as a place to receive guests in Zashiki tatami rooms.
The New Reception Wing stands right on the Kumano Kaidō and is linked to the main house by a corridor on its south side, which the Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education describes as the north side of the main house. It has a hip-and-gable roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles and a building area of 136 square meters.
The wing faces south, with three rooms in a single east-west row. A small entrance at the west end of the south front would have let guests be shown in without passing through the family's house.
Why the Kubota Family Residence New Reception Wing was registered
The Kubota New Reception Wing was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that it forms one scene with the main house, and Gobo City says it shapes the roadside face of the estate.
The city also calls it a fine piece of modern Japanese-style architecture, singling out paper screens set with colored glass and an earth floor under the eaves finished in a tortoiseshell pattern. A late Edo house and a guest wing fitted out in the taste of the 1910s stand side by side, joined by a single corridor.
What to look for in the Kubota New Reception Wing
The eastern two of the three rooms form a Tsuzukima pair of formal shoin-style reception rooms, with a veranda running along the front and side. The prefectural board says the principal room has a Tokonoma alcove, shelves and a Tsukeshoin built-in writing desk. Two connected formal rooms suggest a house prepared to receive a sizeable party of guests.
The timber is good-quality tsuga, Japanese hemlock, a fine-grained, pale wood that was prized for the posts and fittings of reception rooms. The agency sees the hemlock and the glass-paned screens as reflecting what was fashionable when the wing was built.
The colored glass is set into parts of the shōji, letting a different light into the rooms from plain paper screens. Under the eaves, the earth floor laid in a tortoiseshell pattern shows that care went into the ground outside the veranda as well as the rooms within.
Visiting the Kubota Family Residence New Reception Wing
The Kubota Family Residence New Reception Wing is part of a private home and the interior is not open. The glass screens and the alcove are known only through the descriptions of the agency, the prefecture and the city.
Because the Kubota New Reception Wing stands on the old road, it is probably one of the easier parts of the estate to see from outside. Please stay off the property and take photographs from the public road only. Directions to the estate are on the Kubota Family Residence page.
Q&A
- When was the Kubota Family Residence New Reception Wing built?
- In the early Taishō period, between 1912 and 1918. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on June 24, 2021.
- How is the Kubota Family Residence New Reception Wing connected to the main house?
- The wing lies north of the main house and is joined to it by a corridor on its south side. It also has its own small entrance at the west end of the south front.
- What are the rooms of the Kubota New Reception Wing like?
- The eastern two rooms are a connected pair of formal reception rooms with a veranda on the front and side. The principal room has a tokonoma, shelves and a tsukeshoin, and the wing uses fine hemlock timber and shōji screens set with colored glass.
- How large is the Kubota Family Residence New Reception Wing?
- It is a 1-story wooden building with a building area of 136 square meters, under a hip-and-gable roof of pantiles.
- Can I see inside the Kubota Family Residence New Reception Wing?
- No. It is part of a private home and the interior is not open. The wing stands on the old road, so its exterior is seen from the public road.
Basic Information
| Name | Kubota Family Residence New Reception Wing (久保田家住宅新座敷) |
|---|---|
| Location | 165 Nakanotsubo, Komatsubara, Yukawacho, Gobo City, Wakayama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2021-06-24 (Reiwa 3) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 136 square meters |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (private residence) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Kubota Family Residence New Reception Wing
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00013872
- Cultural Heritage Online: Kubota Family Residence New Reception Wing
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/591570
- Kubota Family Residence: Main House, New Reception Wing, Nagayamon Gate and Wall (Gobo City, in Japanese)
- https://www.city.gobo.lg.jp/sosiki/kyoikuiin/kyoiku/tanto/bunnkazai/shinobunkazai/kenzoubutu/1627607750985.html
- Kubota Family Residence (Wakayama no Bunkazai, Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education, in Japanese)
- https://wakayama-bunkazai.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-spot-998/
Last verified: 2026.10.10
