Yamasaki Family Residence

About the Yamasaki Family Residence

The Yamasaki Family Residence (山﨑家住宅, Yamasaki-ke Jūtaku) is a merchant family's estate in Kokawa, Kinokawa City, Wakayama Prefecture, centered on a main house whose frame was raised in 1917; its main house, north storehouse, south storehouse and perimeter wall were each listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on February 4, 2021. It sits just north of JR Kokawa Station, and locals know it as Yamasaki-tei.

The estate was built by the Yamasakis, who ran a cotton flannel works in Wakayama City. In the Taishō period, northern and central Wakayama were known for Kishū flannel, a napped cotton cloth, and the family prospered in the boom years around the First World War. According to the Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education, the main house was commissioned by Yamasaki Eisuke, and its ridge tablet names carpenters from both Wakayama City and Kōyasan.

The name is read Yamasaki, not Yamazaki. The character 﨑 is a variant of 崎, and the café that now operates here sometimes writes it 山崎邸.

How the Estate Is Laid Out

The plan of the Yamasaki Family Residence is easy to read. The main house stands in the middle of the lot. The south storehouse occupies the southeast corner on the street, and the north storehouse the northwest corner at the back. A brick wall 130 meters long runs around all four sides, with a gateway and a side entrance in the south front.

Start from the south. Standing on the street by the station, you see the red brick wall with the gabled roof of the south storehouse rising behind it; the national database calls that storehouse the central element of the view from the south. Through the gate, the irimoya porch of the main house faces you, and the single-storey wing of the grand hall runs off to the east. The north storehouse is tucked away behind the main house and can barely be seen from the street.

The large wooden gate is a replacement. According to the café operator, the old gate collapsed in Typhoon Jebi (Typhoon No. 21) in September 2018 and was rebuilt with donations. The brick wall on either side is Taishō work.

Four Registrations, One Estate

The four structures of the Yamasaki Family Residence were registered separately on February 4, 2021: the main house as no. 30-0295, the south storehouse as 30-0296, the north storehouse as 30-0297 and the wall as 30-0298. The main house dates from 1917 and the north storehouse from 1918; the south storehouse and wall are assigned to the late Taishō period, 1919 to 1926.

Wakayama Prefecture values the estate as the home of a businessman who prospered in Kishū flannel, one of Wakayama's signature modern industries, and therefore as a reflection of its region and era. Beyond the fine, freely handled interiors of the main house, it also stresses how well the Taishō layout of the whole compound survives. The fact that all four pieces remain together is itself a large part of what makes the place worth seeing.

Visiting Today

The Yamasaki Family Residence is privately owned. The social welfare corporation Ichibakukai (Mugi no Sato) runs a café, Hajime Cafe, in part of the main house and uses the estate for events. According to the operator, the café opens Thursday, Friday and Saturday between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., and those hours are, in practice, when you can enter the grounds.

Access differs by building. Only the main house can be entered; there is no notice of the storehouses being opened. The wall and the south storehouse can be seen from the street at any time. How far you may walk and if indoor photography is allowed depend on the day's events, so ask the staff when you arrive, and check the café's website for current opening days before you go.

Getting There

From JR Kokawa Station on the Wakayama Line, turn right out of the ticket gate and walk for about 2 minutes; look for the red brick wall and the big wooden gate.

By car, turn toward the railway at the Kokawa intersection on Route 24, cross the level crossing and take the first left. The operator lists two small parking areas nearby, for 3 and 6 cars.