What Is the Uto Family Residence Barn?
The Uto Family Residence Barn (宇藤家住宅納屋, also written Utō) is the barn of an early Meiji farmstead in Hoshiya, Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on January 8, 2009 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The Agency records the Uto Family Residence Barn as a single-storey timber building with a tile roof and a building area of 96 square metres. It dates from the early Meiji period; the year column of the database gives only the range 1868 to 1911.
The Building That Closes the East Side
The Uto Family Residence Barn stands on the east side of the plot and meets the nagayamon gate on the south at a right angle (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Its ridge runs north to south under a tiled hip-and-gable roof. It is 20 metres long and 4.0 metres deep: the same length as the gatehouse and 0.4 metres deeper.
Inside, from the south, come a storeroom, the bath and toilet, and another storeroom (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The wet rooms sit between the spaces for crops and tools.
Why It Was Registered
The Uto Family Residence Barn was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2009 under the criterion for structures that contribute to the historic landscape of the country (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The Agency explains that the barn and the nagayamon gate together make up the solid front of the farmstead. The barn is the older of the two: early Meiji against the Taisho period of the gatehouse. The later gatehouse was joined to the existing barn, and the two came to wrap the south-east corner of the plot in an L shape.
What to Look For
Start at the foot of the Uto Family Residence Barn. According to the Agency, it rests on a foundation of reddish crystalline schist.
The outer wall matches the gatehouse, with white plaster above and vertical boards (tateita-bari) below (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Reddish stone, dark boards and white wall rise in that order. Where the barn meets the gatehouse, look at how the north-south roof is fitted to the east-west one.
Visiting
The Uto Family Residence Barn is an outbuilding of a private home, and no information on public opening was found. It stands on the east boundary, so its outer wall faces the edge of the plot. Please stay off the property and photograph with care.
Directions from Hoshiya Station and the layout of the whole compound are on the Uto Family Residence page.
Q&A
- When was the Uto Family Residence Barn built?
- In the early Meiji period. The year column of the Agency database gives only the range 1868 to 1911.
- How large is the Uto Family Residence Barn?
- It is a single-storey building 20 metres long and 4.0 metres deep, with a building area of 96 square metres (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- What is inside the Uto Family Residence Barn?
- From the south: a storeroom, the bath and toilet, and another storeroom (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- What should I look for at the Uto Family Residence Barn?
- The foundation of reddish crystalline schist and the outer wall of white plaster above vertical boards (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- When was the Uto Family Residence Barn registered?
- On January 8, 2009, under registration number 30-0137 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Basic Information
| Name | Uto Family Residence Barn (宇藤家住宅納屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 524 Hoshiya, Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2009/01/08 (Heisei 21) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, single-storey, tile roof, building area 96 m², length 20 m, depth 4.0 m |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | Private residence; no public opening found; exterior viewed from outside the grounds |
References
- Uto Family Residence Barn (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00007527
- Uto Family Residence Barn (Cultural Heritage Online, Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/198519
- Uto Family Residence (Wakayama no Bunkazai, Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education, Japanese)
- https://wakayama-bunkazai.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai_510/
- Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in Wakayama (Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education, Japanese)
- https://www.pref.wakayama.lg.jp/prefg/500700/mokuroku/d00155458.html
Last verified: 2026.11.11
