What the Nakamura Family Residence Brick Storehouse Is
The Nakamura Family Residence Brick Storehouse (中村家住宅煉瓦蔵, Nakamura-ke jūtaku renga-gura) is a late Meiji brick store on the corner plot just west of the main house of the Nakamura estate in Onikoshi, Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture, registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 7 October 2014. It is a 2-storey brick building under a gabled roof, Kirizuma-zukuri, laid with pantiles, and covers 20 square metres. The Chiba Prefectural Board of Education places it at the northwest corner of the site.
The ridge runs north to south, and each gable end, north and south, has a window with an arched hood. The door is on the east side. The north gable faces the Chiba Kaido, so from the road the arched window and the gable wall look straight at you.
The walls are over-fired bricks laid in English bond, English bond. Over-fired brick is baked at a higher temperature, which darkens and hardens the face. Near the top of the wall a cornice with fret-like ornament runs around the building and frames a pediment.
Why It Was Registered
The Nakamura Family Residence Brick Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. Describing the main house, the Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that together with this brick storehouse it forms a solid, weighty streetscape. Standing on the corner of the highway, the store anchors the whole front of the estate.
What makes it interesting as a building is the mix of East and West. The walls are brick and borrow the language of Western architecture at the top, a cornice and a pediment. The roof, by contrast, is a pantiled Japanese gable: the ridge-end tiles, Onigawara, are wrapped in lime plaster and the ridge is stacked tall. A Japanese storehouse roof sits on a brick body, and a Western cornice resolves the join.
All of this is packed into a store of only 20 square metres. The Agency for Cultural Affairs counts the plaster-wrapped ridge tiles and the tall ridge as part of the building's weighty design.
What to Look For
Begin at the north gable. The arched window sits inside the triangle of the gable wall, and the horizontal line of the cornice cuts across above it. Fret ornament is a band of squared-off spirals, and it gives that line a fine, repeating texture.
Then look up at the roof. Above the brick rises a tall ridge of stacked tile, finished at each end with a ridge tile sealed in white plaster. Dark brick, white plaster and grey tile: those three layers give the store its character.
The bond can be read without going close. English bond alternates a course showing the long faces of the bricks with a course showing their ends, which lays a fine pattern of horizontal stripes across the wall.
Visiting
The Nakamura Family Residence Brick Storehouse is privately owned and the interior is closed. Ichikawa City's and Chiba Prefecture's heritage pages give no visiting days or booking procedure (checked 25 September 2026).
Of all the buildings on the estate, this is the easiest to see. It stands on the corner beside the road with its north gable turned to the street, so the arched window and cornice can be studied from outside the grounds. The east side with the door faces into the property. Keep photography to the exterior from the public road.
Directions and the conditions for seeing the estate as a whole are covered on the Nakamura Family Residence page.
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Q&A
- Can you visit the Nakamura Family Residence Brick Storehouse?
- The interior is closed because it is private property. It stands on the corner beside the Chiba Kaido, and the arched window and cornice on its north gable can be seen from outside the grounds.
- When was the Nakamura Family Residence Brick Storehouse built?
- In the late Meiji era. It was registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 7 October 2014.
- How is the brick of the Nakamura Family Residence Brick Storehouse laid?
- Over-fired bricks are laid in English bond. A cornice with fret-like ornament and a pediment appear near the top of the wall.
- Is the roof of the Nakamura Family Residence Brick Storehouse Western in style?
- No. It is a Japanese pantiled gable roof with plaster-wrapped ridge-end tiles and a tall stacked ridge, set on a brick body.
- How big is the Nakamura Family Residence Brick Storehouse?
- It is a 2-storey brick building with a building area of 20 square metres. The ridge runs north to south and the door is on the east side.
Basic Information
| Name | Nakamura Family Residence Brick Storehouse (中村家住宅煉瓦蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2-200-1 Onikoshi, Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), register no. 12-0173 |
| Year Designated | Registered 2014/10/07 (Heisei 26) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Brick, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building area 20 square metres |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Closed; exterior only, from outside the grounds |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Nakamura Family Residence Brick Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010113
- Nakamura Family Residence Main House and Others (Chiba Prefectural Board of Education)
- https://www.pref.chiba.lg.jp/kyouiku/bunkazai/bunkazai/q111-078.html
- Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Ichikawa City Board of Education)
- https://www.city.ichikawa.lg.jp/page/4202.html
Last verified: 2026.09.24
