A Headman's House Measured in Beams
The former Hirata Family Residence (旧平田家住宅, Kyū Hirata-ke Jūtaku, also written Hirata-ke Jūtaku) is a late 17th-century farmhouse in the Kobuchizawa district of Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture, designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan on 2 September 1989.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs records the frame precisely: 19.7 metres along the ridge, 10.9 metres in depth, an irimoya hipped-and-gabled roof of thatch, with a low earthen-floored eave (tsuchibisashi) attached along the east face. Roughly twenty metres of frontage is a great deal for a rural house of the Edo period, and the proportions register immediately when you come up the approach from the road.
The Hirata were headmen (nanushi) of Matsumukai village in Koma District, sharing the post in alternation with the Nishina family. Family tradition traces them to Yamada Tajima-no-kami, a retainer of the Takeda house. A land survey register of Kanbun 6 (1666) shows them holding more land than anyone else in the village, and an ancestor who died in Enpō 8 (1680) is connected with the founding of Tōshō-ji, the local temple. Wealth of that order explains the timber.
Note the official designation name. The Agency lists the property as Kyū Hirata-ke Jūtaku (Yamanashi-ken Kitakoma-gun Kobuchizawa-chō), appending the old county and town to separate it from other Hirata houses on the national register. Kitakoma District and Kobuchizawa Town were absorbed into Hokuto City in 2006, so the designation name and the postal address no longer match. Both refer to the same building.
Why the Old Form Mattered
Japanese farmhouse studies read age off structural habits rather than dates carved into wood, and this house carries several of the older ones at once.
Posts along the outer walls and at the room partitions stand at intervals of one ken, about 1.8 metres. Later builders learned to span wider gaps and open up walls; a 17th-century carpenter did not, and the closely spaced posts with very few openings are among the clearest signs of early date. Inside, the doma, the packed-earth work floor, was originally enormous, taking up a large share of the plan, with five rooms raised on the boarded side. Above the doma the beam frame was left exposed, heavy timbers crossing and stacking without a ceiling to hide them.
Later generations altered the house, most significantly by building rooms into the doma. That is a common fate for large farmhouses, and it obscured the original plan. The Agency's assessment notes that the alterations are reversible: the primary posts and beams survive well enough that the building could be returned to its first form, which is what makes the house valuable as evidence rather than merely old. Yamanashi has few 17th-century houses of this scale, and this one documents how a wealthy headman's household in the mountain basin actually lived.
Moved, Rebuilt, Kept Smoking
The house you visit is not on its original plot. The Hirata had lived near the Jizō hall of the old village before moving to a site with better access to water, apparently before Kanbun 6 (1666).
In 1989, the year of designation, Hirata Nagato donated the building to what was then the town of Kobuchizawa. Dismantling followed under national supervision, reconstruction on the present site ran from 1991 into 1992, and fire-prevention work was completed the following year. The house opened to the public in 1992. When Kobuchizawa merged into Hokuto City in 2006, ownership passed to the city.
Step through the entrance and the first thing you meet is scale, not decoration. There is no coffered ceiling, no carved transom. The interest lies in the joinery overhead and in the sheer volume of the earthen floor. Agricultural tools and household implements are displayed inside, and the neighbouring building, formerly the Kobuchizawa local history museum, sits just below the house on the same grounds.
One detail rewards a visitor who arrives on a cold morning. A fire is kept in the sunken hearth on the earth floor, and the smoke is deliberate: rising through the roof structure, it dries and preserves the thatch and drives off insects. Thatched roofs die from damp and beetles, not from rain. You will smell the smoke before you see the hearth, and the underside of the thatch has taken on the dark lacquer-like sheen that only decades of it produce.
Planning a Visit
The house is a ten-minute walk from Kobuchizawa Station on the JR Chūō Main Line, which limited express trains serve, so it fits into a day trip from Tokyo without a car. Admission is 210 yen for adults and high school students and 100 yen for elementary and junior high school students, with reduced rates for groups of twenty or more and free entry for preschool children. Opening hours are 9:00 to 17:00, with last admission at 16:30.
Closing days need attention. Through most of the year the house shuts on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, plus the day after a public holiday and the New Year period from 28 December to 4 January. In winter, roughly mid-November to early March, closures expand to Monday through Thursday, leaving only Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Calling ahead on 0551-36-2142 is sensible in the cold months. Hokuto City publishes a monthly calendar for the property.
Photography of the exterior and interior is generally unrestricted, though the interior is dim and the hearth smoke can haze a lens. The city's other museum facilities, including the Hokuto City Archaeological Museum and the Asakawa Noritaka and Takumi Brothers Museum, use the same ticket price and similar hours, which makes a combined itinerary straightforward.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Yamanashi
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Former Hirata Family Residence (Kobuchizawa Town, Kitakoma District, Yamanashi Prefecture)
- [ Mt. Fuji & Lake Kawaguchiko Day Tours ]
Q&A
- Can the former Hirata Family Residence be visited, and what does it cost?
- Yes. It operates as a public facility of Hokuto City, open 9:00 to 17:00 with last entry at 16:30. Admission is 210 yen for adults and high school students, 100 yen for elementary and junior high students, and free for preschool children.
- How do I reach the former Hirata Family Residence from Kobuchizawa Station?
- On foot in about ten minutes, heading south from the station. A large signboard on the road marks the turning. Parking is available for drivers arriving via the Chūō Expressway.
- Is the former Hirata Family Residence closed on any particular days?
- Tuesdays and Wednesdays for most of the year, along with the day after public holidays and 28 December to 4 January. From about mid-November to early March the closure runs Monday through Thursday, so winter visits are limited to Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
- Is the former Hirata Family Residence standing where it was originally built?
- No. It was dismantled after its 1989 designation and reconstructed on the present site between 1991 and 1992, then opened to the public. The original plot was elsewhere in the same district.
- Why does the former Hirata Family Residence smell of smoke inside?
- A fire is maintained in the hearth on the earthen floor as a conservation measure. Smoke rising into the roof keeps the thatch dry and repels insects, a traditional method still used at thatched properties across Japan.
Basic Information
| Name | Kyū Hirata-ke Jūtaku (旧平田家住宅), registered as "Yamanashi-ken Kitakoma-gun Kobuchizawa-chō" |
|---|---|
| Location | 7761-4 Kobuchizawa-chō, Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (Structures), category: pre-modern / folk dwelling |
| Year Designated | 2 September 1989 (Heisei 1); designation number 02226 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 19.7 m frontage, 10.9 m depth; irimoya roof, thatched, with earthen-floored eave on the east face |
| Owner | Hokuto City |
| Public Access | Open to the public. 9:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30). Closed Tue and Wed, day after public holidays, 28 Dec to 4 Jan; Mon to Thu in winter. Adults 210 yen. Tel 0551-36-2142 |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Kyū Hirata-ke Jūtaku
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/904
- Cultural Heritage Online: Kyū Hirata-ke Jūtaku
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/121714
- Hokuto City: Museums of Hokuto City (hours, closures, admission)
- https://www.city.hokuto.yamanashi.jp/docs/1638.html
- Hokuto City: Hirata Family Residence facility page
- https://www.city.hokuto.yamanashi.jp/docs/4774.html
- Hokuto City: List of cultural properties
- https://www.city.hokuto.yamanashi.jp/docs/1932.html
Last verified: 2026.08.11