Kiuchi Family Residence Former Shop

The Shop Front on the Street

The Kiuchi Family Residence Former Shop (木内家住宅旧店舗) is a shop of stone and timber of 1929–1931 in Tako, Tako-machi, Katori District, Chiba Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on October 14, 1999 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a 2-storey stone building with a copper roof and a building area of 45 square metres; registration number 12-0033.

The Kiuchi Family Residence Former Shop was the store of the Kiuchi family of rice dealers and is the only one of the three buildings that faces the street (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The former storehouse adjoins it at the back, with the main house beyond (Chiba Prefecture).

Stone Below, Timber Above

The Kiuchi Family Residence Former Shop has a gabled copper roof with its eaves side to the street (Kirizuma-zukuri, Hirairi, Dōban-buki), a lean-to canopy (Geya) along the street front, and many openings, as befits a shop (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The ground floor is laid in Ōya stone and the upper floor is Japanese-style timber, so the material changes partway up a single building (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Chiba Prefectural Board of Education explains that the ground floor was built in stone to protect the bales of rice in stock from fire.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency registered the Kiuchi Family Residence Former Shop as a model of design, describing its blend of tradition and fashion as a clear sign of how merchant architecture developed in the area in modern times. The Chiba Prefectural Board of Education calls it a benchmark for the district's modern shop buildings.

What to Look For

The Kiuchi Family Residence Former Shop can be seen front-on from the street. Look for the join between the stone ground floor and the timber upper floor, the lean-to canopy and the wide openings; then compare the shop, stone only on its ground floor, with the storehouse behind it, which is stone up to the eaves (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

The Kiuchi Family Residence Former Shop is privately owned, and no official information on interior access was found. As it faces the street, its exterior can be seen from the roadside.