Nakasuji Family Residence Utility Building

What the Nakasuji Family Residence Utility Building Is

The Nakasuji Family Residence Utility Building (中筋家住宅便益棟, Nakasuji-ke Jūtaku Ben'ekitō) is a small service building housing a toilet, a bathroom and a storeroom, standing north of the gatehouse on the Nakasuji family estate in the Wasa district of Negi, Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture; it was built in 1887 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 11 December 1998.

It is a single-storey building with a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof in Sangawara-buki pantiles and a building area of just 11 square metres, the smallest of the five registered buildings on the estate. It closes the northern end of the row that lines the prefectural road on the east side of the property: gatehouse, attached store, then this.

A katteguchi, or service entrance, opens between the utility building and the store. This was the door for family members and tradespeople on everyday errands, as opposed to the formal gate through which guests arrived. On this estate the front gate and the back door sit side by side on the same road.

Why It Was Registered

The Nakasuji Family Residence Utility Building was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that its exterior was designed to match the gatehouse and store, and that its roof, set just below the store's, plays an effective part in the streetscape.

Toilets and bathhouses were usually tucked away at the back of a property. Here the utility building stands on the street side, wears the same finish as the gate and takes the last step in a descending line of roofs. Its function belongs behind the scenes, but because the road could see it, it was treated as part of the formal front.

What to Look For

Look at the Nakasuji Family Residence Utility Building as the end of the row, not on its own. Heading north from the gatehouse, the roof drops a step over the store, then, across the gap of the service entrance, drops slightly again over the utility building. This 11-square-metre building supplies the final step.

The difference is small and easy to miss. Compare the eaves of the store with those of the utility building and you can see the gentle slope built into the whole row.

Visiting

The utility building is part of a private home, and neither the interior nor the grounds are open (checked 26 September 2026). Its exterior faces the prefectural road and can be seen from the public road.

Avoid standing in front of the service entrance: this is a lived-in home.

Directions to the estate and general visiting conditions are on the Nakasuji Family Residence page.