Also written 供部屋. A room used principally by the servants or attendants tomo 伴, 供 of high ranking visitors both as a waiting area hikaeshitsu 控室, when on duty, and as accommodation. Found particularly in the larger vernacular houses *minka 民家 of village headmen shōya 庄屋, nanushi 名主, and in the houses of the warrior class bushi 武士 and local administrators in the Edo period. The term was especially common around Nara and Osaka.
The tomobeya might be incorporated in the main dwelling house or located in an ancillary structure fuzokuya 附属屋, usually a gatehouse nagayamon 長屋門. An example of the former type may be seen in the residence of a daikan 代官, local administrator and magistrate in Nara, dating from 1632. It is a plain room located in the front corner of the *doma 土間 at the lower *shimote 下手 end of the house. The room projects forward from the main range permitting access without passing through the *ōdoguchi 大戸口 and is provided with a solidly constructed projecting lattice window degōshi 出格子. Tomobeya were doubtless also used by the servants of the householder when there were no visitors - in some cases probably by gatekeepers monban 門番.