The First Rearing House, 1935
The Former Sericultural Experiment Station Shinjo Branch (Silkworm Rearing House No. 1) is a two-storey timber building of 1935 in Tokamachi, Shinjo City, Yamagata Prefecture, entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 29 March 2013.
It stands near the centre of the grounds, slightly to the east. The roof is gabled and covered in sheet metal, and the footprint is 331 square metres, the largest of the four rearing houses on the site. The office and the gate date from 1934, so building began with administration and the frontage, and the working buildings followed a year later.
A ventilation tower rides the ridge. In a room full of silkworms, humidity from mulberry leaf and frass decided whether a batch succeeded, and drawing air off at the apex of the roof was the answer. That tower is what separates a rearing house from every other building here at a glance.
The ground floor is clad in lapped boarding, the upper floor finished in lime plaster. A hard material where rain and snow strike, a breathable one above: all four rearing houses share the arrangement.
Stairs at the east end drop to an underground mulberry store. Picked leaves dry out quickly and silkworms refuse them, so the leaves were kept cool and damp below ground. It is the clearest piece of evidence that this was a working rearing floor and not simply a hall.
Why It Was Registered
The registration number is 06-0136, the second issued after the office building, under the first criterion, covering structures contributing to the historic character of the landscape.
Rearing House No. 1 was built to improve rearing technique, not merely to hold silkworms. It is a piece of experimental equipment as much as a building: the ridge tower, the ventilation openings in the upper floor and the cool store below ground all exist so that conditions could be set and repeated.
The ground floor was later converted to a garage and little of its original character survives. The upper floor keeps its ventilation openings and its hoist opening, the hatch through which mulberry and rearing trays were lifted from below. The working route through the building is still legible there.
Seismic strengthening was carried out in August 2020 and the building reopened in June 2021 as a cultural exchange facility. Registration does not freeze a building; the approach taken here keeps the exterior reading as it did while the interior goes on being used.
What to Look For
Find the ventilation tower first. A long slatted box sits on the ridge, and the three houses to the north carry the same thing, so from the northern end of the site there is a point where all four towers line up.
The wall finish changes at first floor level, which draws a horizontal line right across the building. Shadowed boarding below, white plaster above: even from a distance you can read the two storeys.
At the east end, the stairs to the underground store show themselves from outside. The base of the wall changes where the stair well meets it, and the finish differs from the rest of the elevation.
If you can get in, take the measure of the upper floor. It is a single room of 207 square metres with few intervening posts. Racks of rearing trays needed uninterrupted floor, and that requirement shaped the frame of the building.
Visiting This Building
Rearing House No. 1 now serves as a cultural exchange facility, with a hall on the ground floor and an exhibition and workshop space above. Both are hired by booking. You may be able to enter when an event is running, but the building is not open continuously.
Hire costs 270 yen an hour for the ground floor hall, which measures 165.6 square metres, and 340 yen an hour for the 207 square metre space above. Both are available from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., closed Tuesdays and from 29 December to 3 January, and open flame is not permitted in either. Enquiries and availability go to 0233-29-2122.
The exterior is freely visible from the grounds at no charge, and outdoor photography is unrestricted. Shoot from the south or the east for the whole building; from the east the ventilation tower and the stairs to the underground store fall in the same frame.
Event dates are announced on the facility website. If you want to see inside, time your visit to an exhibition or workshop.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Yamagata
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Q&A
- Can visitors go inside Rearing House No. 1 at the Former Sericultural Experiment Station Shinjo Branch?
- The interior is hired out as a cultural exchange facility, so entry is for booked users. You may be able to go in during an event, but it is not open continuously. The exterior can be seen freely.
- When was Rearing House No. 1 built?
- In 1935, a year after the office building and the gate, making it the oldest of the four rearing houses that survive on the site.
- How large is Rearing House No. 1?
- The footprint is 331 square metres, the largest of the four rearing houses. It is two-storey timber with a partial basement under a gabled sheet metal roof.
- What is the box on the roof ridge?
- A ventilation tower. Mulberry leaf and frass raised the humidity in a rearing room, so air had to be drawn off at the apex of the roof. All four rearing houses carry one of the same design.
- How much does it cost to hire space in Rearing House No. 1?
- 270 yen an hour for the ground floor hall and 340 yen an hour for the upper floor space. Available 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., closed Tuesdays and from 29 December to 3 January, with no open flame permitted.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Sericultural Experiment Station Shinjo Branch (Silkworm Rearing House No. 1) |
|---|---|
| Location | 6000-1 Toumeki, Tokamachi, Shinjo City, Yamagata Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 29 March 2013 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Two-storey timber with partial basement, sheet metal roof, footprint 331 square metres |
| Owner | Shinjo City |
| Public Access | Exterior viewable; interior hired as a cultural exchange facility by booking, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Rearing House No. 1
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009416
- Shinjo City: On the Registered Tangible Cultural Properties
- https://www.city.shinjo.yamagata.jp/k001/020/010/030/030/9635.html
- Shinjo City: Cultural Exchange Facility
- https://www.city.shinjo.yamagata.jp/k001/020/010/030/010/20210419181250.html
- Michi-no-Eki Shinjo Ecology Garden Gensan-no-Mori: Room Hire
- https://michinoeki-eg.jp/rental/
Last verified: 2026.09.14
