The Heated Rearing House, 1937
The Former Sericultural Experiment Station Shinjo Branch (Silkworm Rearing House No. 2) is a two-storey timber building of 1937 in Tokamachi, Shinjo City, Yamagata Prefecture, entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 29 March 2013.
It stands immediately west of the first rearing house. The roof is gabled sheet metal with a ventilation tower on the ridge, and the footprint is 306 square metres. Lapped boarding below, lime plaster above: the wall treatment repeats that of its neighbour.
A lean-to runs along the west end, its roof set below the main slope to cover a working entrance and equipment. The four rearing houses look interchangeable at first, but each carries its lean-to in a different place, or not at all, and that is the quickest way to tell them apart.
What defines this building is its heating. Warm air from a boiler was fed into the rooms so that both the spring and the autumn crops of silkworms could be raised here. Silkworms grow slowly in cool air, and heating extended the season at both ends, increasing the number of crops the station could run in a year.
Why It Was Registered
The registration number is 06-0137, granted under the first criterion, covering structures that contribute to the historic character of the landscape.
1937 is the year the site was promoted to full branch status. Rearing houses two, four and five all went up then, so the building dates alone record a sudden expansion of capacity to match the new rank of the Former Sericultural Experiment Station Shinjo Branch.
With four houses in service the station could run heated and unheated rooms side by side, and spring and autumn crops against summer ones. This building belongs to the heated side. Taken alone it is hard to read; taken as one of a set of four it shows how an experiment station compares results by varying the conditions.
The ground floor was later converted to a workshop. On the upper floor the ventilation openings and the hoist opening survive, so the route by which mulberry and rearing trays moved between floors can still be traced.
What to Look For
Take in the lean-to at the west end. A lower roof runs out beneath the main gable, so the silhouette from the west has two steps in it, which the first rearing house does not.
Note how close the two houses stand. They sit side by side on an east-west line with little space between, and standing in the gap and looking up puts two identical ventilation towers on either side of you.
The lapped boarding of the ground floor throws a run of horizontal shadow lines. Rearing house four had its ground floor rendered in mortar at a later date, so comparing the two shows exactly what that alteration did to the character of a wall.
The plaster of the upper floor carries its age. Where a face has not been repeatedly redone, movement in the backing shows through as staining or fine cracking, and hunting for the difference between repaired and untouched areas is a way of reading the building's history off a single wall.
Visiting This Building
Rearing House No. 2 is not currently in use as a hire space or a shop. The interior is not normally open, and visiting means viewing from outside.
The exterior is freely visible from the grounds at no charge, and outdoor photography is unrestricted. From the west the two-stage roof of the lean-to and the main range come together; from the south you get the whole building including the ridge tower.
To photograph it with the first rearing house, stand in the passage between the two and look north. Two near-identical buildings at close quarters is as good a summary of this site as any single view can be.
A covered corridor once ran along the north side, and the section north of the first rearing house has been removed. Look along the wall for a point where the finish changes, and you have the mark of where the corridor landed.
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Q&A
- Can visitors go inside Rearing House No. 2 at the Former Sericultural Experiment Station Shinjo Branch?
- No. The building is not currently used as a hire space or a shop and the interior is not normally open. The exterior is freely visible from the grounds at no charge.
- How was Rearing House No. 2 heated?
- Warm air from a boiler was fed into the rooms, allowing both the spring and the autumn silkworm crops to be raised here even when outside temperatures were low.
- How is the building constructed?
- Two-storey timber under a gabled sheet metal roof with a ventilation tower on the ridge, 306 square metres in footprint, clad in lapped boarding below and lime plaster above, with a lean-to at the west end.
- When was Rearing House No. 2 built?
- In 1937, the year the site was promoted to full branch status. Rearing houses four and five date from the same year.
- How can I tell it apart from the other rearing houses?
- By the lean-to at the west end, which gives the building a two-stage roof line when seen from that side, and by the boarded ground floor, which distinguishes it from rearing house four with its later mortar render.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Sericultural Experiment Station Shinjo Branch (Silkworm Rearing House No. 2) |
|---|---|
| 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, sheet metal roof, footprint 306 square metres |
| Owner | Shinjo City |
| Public Access | Interior not normally open; exterior viewable free of charge |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Rearing House No. 2
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009417
- Shinjo City: On the Registered Tangible Cultural Properties
- https://www.city.shinjo.yamagata.jp/k001/020/010/030/030/9635.html
- Shinjo City: Shinjo City Ecology Garden, Gensan-no-Mori
- https://www.city.shinjo.yamagata.jp/g/kanko/020/010/010/
- Michi-no-Eki Shinjo Ecology Garden Gensan-no-Mori: Facility Guide
- https://michinoeki-eg.jp/facility/
Last verified: 2026.09.14
