A Taishō-Era Merchant House by Kokawa Station
The Yamasaki Family Residence Main House (山﨑家住宅主屋, Yamasaki-ke Jūtaku Omoya) is a modern Japanese-style house in Kokawa, Kinokawa City, Wakayama Prefecture, whose frame was raised in 1917 and which was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on February 4, 2021. It stands just north of JR Kokawa Station, and locals simply call it Yamasaki-tei, the Yamasaki house.
The house was built for the Yamasakis, who ran a cotton flannel works in Wakayama City. The Yamasaki Family Residence Main House stands at the center of the estate, with a storehouse on the street side, another at the back, and a brick wall around it all.
According to the Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education, the ridgepole went up on May 30, 1917, for the owner Yamasaki Eisuke. The ridge tablet recorded at the raising names carpenters from both Wakayama City and Kōyasan, the monastic mountain to the southeast. The national database also notes a renovation in 2013.
How the House Is Laid Out
The house is timber-framed, two storeys high under a tiled roof, with a building area of 462 square meters. The main block has an irimoya (hip-and-gable) roof, and a smaller irimoya porch projects from its south gable. To the east runs a single-storey wing holding the grand reception hall; to the west, across a small courtyard, sits the household wing where the cooking and daily work went on. Guests to one side, the kitchen to the other.
Step through the south entrance and the rooms unfold northward: a six-mat anteroom, then an eight-mat reception room with a Tokonoma alcove and staggered shelves. Turn east and you reach the grand hall. From the service door at the southwest, an earthen passage leads back to the kitchen, with the stair hall just east of it.
Upstairs, the east side holds two ten-mat principal rooms, each with its own anteroom. The Agency for Cultural Affairs counts four suites of connected reception rooms across the Yamasaki Family Residence Main House, each finished in a different manner.
Why It Was Registered
The Yamasaki Family Residence Main House was registered on February 4, 2021 (registration no. 30-0295) under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation. The north storehouse, south storehouse and perimeter wall were each registered separately on the same day.
The prefecture's assessment rests on two points. The house is the home of a businessman who prospered in Kishū flannel, one of Wakayama's signature modern industries, so it reflects its region and era. It is also a fine example of modern Japanese-style architecture: traditional design at its base, handled freely, with Western touches folded in.
The timber gets its own mention. Close-grained Hinoki cypress of high quality is used throughout, and the Taishō layout of the whole compound survives with few alterations.
What to Look For
The showpiece is the grand hall on the east side: a fifteen-mat reception room paired with a ten-mat Buddhist altar room. Its alcove is one and a half bays wide and comes with staggered shelves and a built-in writing desk, or Tsukeshoin. The walls are covered in kinkarakami, a heavy embossed paper finished to a metallic sheen, and the ceiling is a coved coffered design, a coffered ceiling whose center is lifted a step above the rest.
Upstairs, in the northwest eight-mat room, look up. The ceiling battens radiate from the center like the ribs of an umbrella, a form called kasa-tenjō. The national database singles it out as one of the house's distinguishing features.
Then there is the stair hall. Its stairs and handrails follow straight, Western-leaning lines, a round window is cut into the wall, and the ceiling is coffered. After a run of tatami rooms, it feels like stepping into a different house.
Seeing the Main House
Of the four registered structures on the estate, the Yamasaki Family Residence Main House is the only one you can enter. Part of it operates as Hajime Cafe, run by the social welfare corporation Ichibakukai (Mugi no Sato), and on café days you can sit within sight of the joinery. Access to the grand hall or the umbrella-ceiling room upstairs, and permission for indoor photography, depend on the day's events and bookings, so ask the staff before wandering.
For the exterior, stand just inside the gate, where the irimoya porch on the south gable faces you. Walk around to the east and the low, single-storey hall wing stretches away from the two-storey main block, making the difference in height plain. Directions to the estate and café opening days are on the Yamasaki Family Residence page.
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Q&A
- Can you go inside the Yamasaki Family Residence Main House?
- Yes, partly. A section of the house operates as a café, and you can enter that area on café days. Ask the staff about seeing other rooms, such as the grand hall, and about photography.
- When was the Yamasaki Family Residence Main House built?
- Its ridgepole was raised on May 30, 1917, for Yamasaki Eisuke, whose family ran a cotton flannel business in Wakayama City. The ridge tablet names carpenters from Wakayama City and Kōyasan.
- What should I look for inside the Yamasaki Family Residence Main House?
- The grand hall, with its embossed kinkarakami wall paper and raised coffered ceiling; the umbrella-ribbed ceiling in the upstairs northwest room; and the Western-style stair hall with its round window.
- What is the kinkarakami in the Yamasaki Family Residence Main House?
- It is a heavy paper embossed with a raised pattern and finished to a metallic sheen, used on the walls of the grand hall. With the raised coffered ceiling, it marks that room as the most formal in the house.
- What kind of cultural property is the Yamasaki Family Residence Main House?
- It was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) on February 4, 2021. The north storehouse, south storehouse and wall on the same property were registered on the same day.
Basic Information
| Name | Yamasaki Family Residence Main House (山﨑家住宅主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 853-3 Kokawa, Kinokawa City, Wakayama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2021/2/4 (Reiwa 3) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Wooden, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building area 462 square meters |
| Owner | Private (individual) |
| Public Access | Part of the house operates as a café (partial entry on café days); no regular public opening of the residence |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Yamasaki Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013625
- Wakayama Cultural Heritage portal (Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education): Yamasaki Family Residence
- https://wakayama-bunkazai.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-spot-1002/
- Hajime Cafe: About the Yamasaki House
- https://hajime-cafe.jimdofree.com/%E5%8F%A4%E6%B0%91%E5%AE%B6%E5%B1%B1%EF%A8%91%E9%82%B8
- Hajime Cafe
- https://hajime-cafe.jimdofree.com/
Last verified: 2026.09.24
