Okazaki Family Residence (Former Kurisu Family Residence)

Okazaki Family Residence

The Okazaki Family Residence (Former Kurisu Family Residence; 岡﨑家住宅（旧栗須家住宅）) is an old family homestead in the hamlet of Satotakata, Takata, Shingu City, Wakayama Prefecture, whose main house, storehouse, barn and stone wall, built between the late Edo period and the late Meiji era, were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on August 15, 2024 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

In its recommendation of March 15, 2024, the Council for Cultural Affairs described the property as the home of an old family at the centre of the Satotakata settlement and proposed all four for registration together. The official name adds the older designation, Former Kurisu Family Residence, in brackets after Okazaki Family Residence.

The homestead lies about 8 kilometres west of central Shingu as the crow flies, in the basin of the Takata River, its yard enclosed on three sides by a wall of river stones.

How the Homestead Is Laid Out

According to the Agency, the main house stands toward the north of the plot and faces east. The barn stands to its south and the storehouse sits on raised ground in the southeast corner; both face north.

A dry-laid stone wall turns around the north, east and west sides in a squared U, about 76 metres in all. Gaps cut near the south end of the east and west runs serve as entrances, and the wall is said to have doubled as a windbreak (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Because the main house faces east and the two outbuildings face north, their fronts gather around the yard before the main house. Read from the plan, that yard was most likely where the household worked and came and went.

Dates and Roofs

The oldest parts are the main house and the stone wall, both late Edo period. The storehouse is dated 1865 and the barn to the late Meiji era (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The main house was renovated around 1965, the storehouse and barn around 1998.

Today the main house has a tiled roof and the outbuildings sheet iron, but the main house and storehouse still carry traces of the cedar-bark roofing they once had. The Agency notes the cedar-bark pitch kept by the main house and calls the storehouse a valuable plank storehouse from the cedar-bark era.

The Four Registered Structures

• Main house: single-storey timber, tiled roof, building area 109 square metres. Late Edo period, renovated around 1965. Registration number 30-0369
• Storehouse: timber, 2 storeys, sheet-iron roof, building area 22 square metres. 1865, renovated around 1998. Registration number 30-0370
• Barn: timber, 2 storeys, sheet-iron roof, building area 61 square metres. Late Meiji era, renovated around 1998. Registration number 30-0371
• Stone wall: stone, total length 76 metres. Late Edo period. Registration number 30-0372

All four were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape of the country (Agency for Cultural Affairs; Wakayama Prefecture).

Visiting

The Okazaki Family Residence appears to be a private home, and the Agency database lists no owner. As of 2026 no official source mentions public opening or interior visits. If you go, stay off the property and look only from the road.

The address is 1702 Takata, Shingu City, about 8 kilometres west of JR Shingu Station on the Kisei Line in a straight line (estimated from the site coordinates). There is no official access guidance.