Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan

Built in 1758 and enlarged in 1809, this 343-square-metre Jodo hall in Kashiwazaki, Niigata, has a karahafu porch and 8 rooms in two rows. Registered in 2011.

Just fifteen square metres, this 1877 storehouse adjoins a soy sauce works. Note the set-on tiled roof, notched weatherboarding and black plaster window frames.

Built around 1947, two years after the Nagaoka air raid, this merchant house keeps a gangi snow arcade and a sukiya alcove of bamboo and polished logs. Listed 2018.

A 1938 timber house in Niigata City combining corridor circulation with upstairs reception rooms, registered in 2006. Privately owned; exterior viewing only.

The youngest of Komatsuya Ryokan's registered buildings: a 1957 two-storey guest wing set in garden at Iwamuro Onsen, with zelkova stairs and bark-edged posts.

A small 1925 courtyard wing of Komatsuya Ryokan at Iwamuro Onsen, Niigata, whose alcove trim and shelves use black persimmon said to come from a tree on the site.

The oldest of Komatsuya Ryokan's four registered buildings at Iwamuro Onsen: a 1914 wing whose eight-mat ceiling is laid in three boards, with buried-zelkova trim.

The 1951 front building of Komatsuya Ryokan at Iwamuro Onsen, Niigata: a projecting hip-and-gable porch, a roof that changes form end to end, 3 upstairs rooms.

Saieiji Kyozo in Tokamachi, Niigata, is a mud-walled sutra repository of about 1848. Just 13 square metres, it holds an altar and scripture shelves. Registered 2000.

Saieiji Kuri and Corridor in Tokamachi, Niigata, is a two-storey temple residence of about 1848, joined to the main hall. Its shoin rooms survive. Registered 2000.

Saieiji Shoro in Tokamachi, Niigata, is a 9.2 square metre belfry of about 1848 on a high platform. Its bell still sounds daily at eleven. Registered 2000.

Saieiji Hondo in Tokamachi, Niigata, is a Shinshu main hall rebuilt in 1848 after fire. It is 19 metres wide, with a deeply carved porch. Registered in 2000.

A registered Meiji house in Sekiya, Niigata, raised after the Boshin War burned its predecessor in 1868. Exposed gable framing, bold beams, shoin rooms. Not open.

An 1882 earthen-walled kura beside the Nakanokuchi River, set on high ground against flood. Heavy rafters, close-set posts. Registered 2023. Privately held.

A late Edo storehouse said to have been moved to Sekiya around 1845. Its placed roof sits free above plastered walls, a fire defence. Registered in 2000. Not open.

A small detached room of middle Meiji date, open south onto a garden. Shoin alcove, tokonoma, a round tea hearth in the floor. Registered 2023. Not open.

The Sakata residence main house in Gosen, Niigata, once home to village headmen. Its 20-metre frontage and hipped-and-gabled roof mark a wealthy farming family's rank.

The Sakata family's timber new storehouse in Gosen, Niigata. Exposed close-set pillars and a black-plaster dado mark an unusually careful early-Showa kura.

A compost and livestock shed at the Sakata grounds in Gosen, Niigata. Rough walls and an exposed frame make this rare working building part of a wealthy farmstead.

An earthen-walled storehouse on the Sakata grounds in Gosen, Niigata. Thick plastered walls and closely set pillars make a fireproof dozo, unlike the timber kura nearby.