Hagihara Family Residence East Shop and Main House

What Is the Hagihara Family Residence East Shop and Main House?

The Hagihara Family Residence East Shop and Main House (萩原家住宅東店舗兼主屋) is a late Edo-period (1830–1868) merchant townhouse in the old post town of Katsunuma-juku, Koshu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2018.

The kanji are read Hagihara-ke jūtaku higashi tenpo ken shuoku. This is the core of the eastern lot that the Hagihara family, trading as Nakamatsuya, acquired first, and it combines the shop and the family's living quarters under one roof. Facing north onto the old Koshu Kaido highway, it is the largest of the five registered buildings of the Hagihara Family Residence.

An Earthen Passage and Two Rows of Rooms

The East Shop and Main House is a 2-story timber building with a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof running east to west, now covered in sheet metal. It has a building area of 204 m², a lean-to Geya roof across the front and an extension at the rear.

The plan is organized around a beaten-earth passage, the tōri-doma, about 2.7 meters (one and a half ken) wide, which runs from the front to the back along the east side. Koshu City describes it as the corridor linking the front entrance to the kitchen door, a standard feature of townhouses lined up along a highway.

West of the passage, the raised floor holds two rows of rooms. The front room facing the street is the mise, the shop and accounting area where business was done. Koshu City's floor plan also labels a clerk's room (bantō-beya), a strongbox room (kinko-no-ma) and a formal zashiki, which, as the Agency for Cultural Affairs notes, sits at the far upper end of the house. The Agency calls this a well-developed plan.

Fine Lattices and Doors That Lift Away

From the street, what you notice first is the dense wooden lattice, known as senbon-gōshi or "thousand-strip lattice", that screens the openings. Koshu City explains that it blocks views from outside while still letting in light, and that it defines the look of the facade.

The entrance keeps a board door that slides upward and a large front door that swings up on hinges. Because both are lifted out of the way rather than slid sideways, no space is needed for door pockets, which left the full frontage free for trade.

The Agency's record notes a renovation in 1970. Even so, the lattice and the doors keep the character of a post-town merchant house.

Why It Was Registered

The Hagihara Family Residence East Shop and Main House was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) in 2018 under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation. The Agency points to its wide earthen passage, the two rows of raised rooms with the zashiki at the back, and the refined lattice work of a large Machiya.

Standing between the West Shop and the East Storehouse, it anchors the streetscape of the Hagihara frontage on the old highway.

Visiting the East Shop and Main House

The Hagihara Family Residence East Shop and Main House is still a home, and the interior is normally closed. The lattice front and the doors can be seen from the old Koshu Kaido. To appreciate how fine the lattice is, look at the facade from across the street first, then step a little closer and view it at an angle.

The earthen passage and the shop area were shown to the public during a one-day special opening on November 17, 2018 and at a tea gathering on October 5, 2019. When taking photos from the street, avoid capturing the windows of the living quarters or the residents.