Okamoto Family Residence

The Okamoto Family Residence

The Okamoto Family Residence (岡本家住宅, Okamoto-ke Jūtaku) in Kuju, Koyaguchi-cho, Hashimoto City, Wakayama Prefecture, is the homestead of an old farming family whose main house dates from 1792; four of its buildings were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 6, 2024 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The house lies in a village on the southern slope of Mount Iwawaki (岩湧山), the peak on the border with Osaka Prefecture. According to Wakayama Prefecture, the Okamoto family once served as shoya, the hereditary headmen of their village. All four buildings were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape, under consecutive registration numbers 30-0350 to 30-0353 (Agency for Cultural Affairs), and they are privately owned (Wakayama Prefecture).

How the Homestead Is Laid Out

A late Edo-period nagayamon gatehouse opens on the south edge of the property, and the main house stands toward the north, facing east (Agency for Cultural Affairs). An annex to the west is joined to the main house by a covered passage at its northeast corner, the two together enclosing a south garden, while a storehouse stands to the northwest.

• Main house: 1792, single-storey timber, hip-and-gable thatched roof (temporarily sheathed in sheet iron), 135 square metres; a six-room plan with a beaten-earth floor at the east end
• Annex: about 1965, single-storey timber, gabled pantile roof, 32 square metres; two reception rooms in a row
• Storehouse: 1962, two-storey earthen-walled kura, separately set pantile roof, 40 square metres; for household goods
• Nagayamon gate: late Edo period, single-storey timber, pantile roof, 70 square metres; with a barn, a cowshed and storerooms built in

An Edo-period house and gate, joined by a storehouse and an annex from the mid-20th century, show a homestead kept up and added to over more than 170 years. The main house was renovated in 2022 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Each building is described on its own page.

Visiting

The Okamoto Family Residence is still a private home, and no official information on interior access or visits was found. The village is in the hills about 4.3 kilometres north-northwest of JR Koyaguchi Station on the Wakayama Line, measured in a straight line. If you go, please stay off the property and respect the residents.

Photographs of each building can be seen in the Agency's database and on Cultural Heritage Online.