A Fishing Village House with Its Back to the Sea
The Main House of the Imahie Family Residence (新比惠家住宅主屋, Imahie-ke Jūtaku Omoya) is a two-storey timber dwelling of around 1920 in Kohama-chō, Masuda City, Shimane Prefecture, registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property on 31 October 2022. The surname is worth pausing over: the characters 新比惠 are read Imahie, not the Shinhie a reader might reasonably guess from the individual readings.
The house faces south, away from the Sea of Japan behind it, and covers 253 square metres of ground. A second wing runs off to the northeast, so the plan reads as an L. The roof is a hip-and-gable form, entered on the long eaves side rather than through a gable end, and covered with pantiles. The upper level is a tsushi half-storey, the low attic space common in Japanese houses of this class, too shallow to stand upright in and used for storage rather than living.
The detail that gives the building its weight is the plasterwork. From the second floor up to the underside of the eaves, the walls are plastered solid over the timber frame and finished in white lime. No exposed posts, no visible beam-ends, no gaps where wind can find a way in. Anyone who has stood on the Iwami coast in a winter gale understands the reasoning without needing it explained.
Why an Ordinary House Entered the Register
The criterion applied here is contribution to the historic landscape of the country, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs description ends on exactly that point: a substantial main house that forms part of the settlement scene along the shore. The building was not registered for rarity of technique or for association with a famous name. It was registered because the row of houses along this stretch of coast looks the way it does partly because this one is in it.
That reasoning reflects how the registration system works. Introduced in 1996, it applies lighter obligations than the older designation system for Important Cultural Properties, requiring notification rather than permission for alterations, and it was built to catch the large body of modern vernacular architecture that was disappearing before anyone had assessed it. Farmhouses, shops, warehouses, bridges and water plants all sit on the same list. Shimane Prefecture had over two hundred registered structures by the time the Imahie house joined them, and the house is the newest entry from Masuda City.
Red Roofs and Salt Wind
Coastal Iwami has a visual signature that surprises first-time visitors: the roofs are red. Sekishū tiles, produced in this western part of Shimane, take their reddish-brown colour from a glaze made with Kimachi stone and are fired above 1,200 degrees, which makes them resistant to frost damage. That durability is the reason they spread along the snowy Sea of Japan coast and became one of Japan's three major tile traditions alongside those of Sanshū and Awaji. Houses in villages like Kohama sit under them in long unbroken runs.
Kohama itself is a working fishing settlement on the western side of Masuda, on the coast road that is National Route 191, with a small harbour and an Ebisu shrine near the cooperative's office. Ebisu is the deity of fishermen and of good catches, and his shrines cluster along this coastline. Masuda's ports land mokuzu crabs, known locally as tsugani, among other catches. The Imahie house belongs to that working context rather than to a preserved historic district.
Seeing It, and the Etiquette of Doing So
This is a private home. Nobody lives in a museum here, and the interior is not open. What the register records of the inside is that six rooms are arranged behind the walls, with the entrance at the southeast corner and the western file given over to the formal reception rooms. That is the extent of what a visitor will know about the plan, and it should stay that way.
Viewing the exterior from the public road is entirely reasonable and is how registered private houses across Japan are normally appreciated. The practical courtesies: stay off the property, do not photograph residents or through windows, keep your voice down, and do not block the lane, which is narrow. If someone comes out, a greeting and a short explanation of your interest usually settles matters. Registered properties carry a small oval plaque issued by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, and finding it on the wall is a quiet confirmation you have the right house.
The best approach is on foot from the harbour. Walking up from the water, the L-plan reveals itself gradually and the plastered upper wall reads as a single pale block against the tiles. Morning light from the southeast catches the front. The house underwent renovation in 1977, so what stands is a building that has been maintained and lived in continuously rather than frozen.
Masuda's centre lies roughly twelve kilometres east, and Iwami Airport is close by, which makes Kohama an easy detour rather than an expedition. Combine it with the coast road and you will pass a good deal of the same architecture in less formal condition, which is the best way to understand what the register was trying to hold on to.
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Q&A
- Can visitors go inside the Main House of the Imahie Family Residence?
- No. It is a private residence and the interior is not open to the public. The exterior can be viewed from the public road. Visitors should not enter the property, photograph residents or through windows, or obstruct the narrow lane.
- How is the surname in the Main House of the Imahie Family Residence pronounced?
- The characters 新比惠 are read Imahie. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records the full property name in kana as Imahie-ke Jūtaku Omoya. English listings sometimes render it as Shinhie, which does not match the official reading.
- When was the Main House of the Imahie Family Residence built and registered?
- It dates from around 1920, with renovation carried out in 1977. Registration as a national Tangible Cultural Property took effect on 31 October 2022 under registration number 32-0217, making it one of the more recent additions to Shimane Prefecture's list.
- What are the architectural features of the Main House of the Imahie Family Residence?
- It is a timber building of 253 square metres with a tsushi half-storey upper level, a hip-and-gable pantile roof entered on the long eaves side, and an L-shaped plan formed by a wing extending northeast. The walls are plastered solid in lime from the second floor to the underside of the eaves. Six rooms sit inside, with the entrance at the southeast corner and reception rooms along the western side.
- Where is the Main House of the Imahie Family Residence and how do visitors reach it?
- It is at Kohama-chō in the western part of Masuda City, on the Sea of Japan coast served by National Route 191, near Kohama fishing harbour and about twelve kilometres from central Masuda. Iwami Airport is nearby. A car is the practical way to get there.
Basic Information
| Name | Main House of the Imahie Family Residence (新比惠家住宅主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 429 and adjacent, Kohama-chō, Masuda City, Shimane Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure); criterion: contribution to the historic landscape of the country. Registration no. 32-0217 |
| Year Designated | 31 October 2022 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, two storeys, tiled roof, building area 253 m²; built c. 1920, renovated 1977 |
| Owner | No owner name recorded in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database |
| Public Access | Private residence, interior closed. Exterior viewing from the public road only |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Main House of the Imahie Family Residence
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00014410
- Cultural Heritage Online: Main House of the Imahie Family Residence
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/601409
- Shimane Prefecture: List of Registered Cultural Properties
- https://www.pref.shimane.lg.jp/life/bunka/bunkazai/shimane/tourokubunkazai2.html
- Agency for Cultural Affairs: Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Structures)
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/yukei_kenzobutsu/toroku_yukei.html
- Masuda City: Cultural Properties of Masuda
- https://www.city.masuda.lg.jp/kanko_bunka_sports/rekishi_bunkazai/bunkazai/2/index.html
- Shimane Tourism Navigation: Sekishū Tiles
- https://www.kankou-shimane.com/destination/20741
Last verified: 2026.08.22