Sakai Family Residence Storehouse

About the Sakai Family Residence Storehouse

The Sakai Family Residence Storehouse (酒井家住宅土蔵, Sakai-ke Jūtaku Dozō) is a 2-storey earthen-walled Dozo-zukuri storehouse of the mid-Meiji era in Shimofukae-cho, Sabae City, Fukui Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2011.

The Sakai Family Residence Storehouse stands behind the main house across a courtyard, at the western end of the plot. Fukui Prefecture says it was built in 1891, when the family started its hemp-yarn trade here, to store its goods. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the mid-Meiji era (1883 to 1897) and records alterations around 1982. Its building area is 46 m².

A Representative Mid-Meiji Storehouse

The Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. Sabae City describes it as standard in size but high in quality, and a representative surviving example of a mid-Meiji storehouse in the city.

Built in the year Sakai Shōten was founded, it is older than the main house and marks the starting point of the family business. Sabae City says the goods stored here were raw-silk products, which differs from the prefecture's account of hemp yarn.

Shakudani Stone and Namako Walls

The storehouse measures 7.6 m by 5.7 m. Its gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof is covered in Sangawara-buki pantiles and, according to Sabae City, the ridge is made of Shakudani stone stone. The foundation is three courses of cut Shakudani stone too: a greenish tuff quarried in Fukui and long used for local storehouses and walls.

In the 1982 alterations the walls were refinished in washed mortar, but they were originally white Shikkui plaster. Plaster still frames the windows and doorway, and the canopy shows careful trowel-work decoration.

On the east side, facing the courtyard, the lower wall keeps its original Namako-kabe, the lattice of square tiles with raised plaster joints. Fukui Prefecture also notes the high ceiling and the posts and beams, unusually thick for a building of this size.

Seeing the Sakai Family Residence Storehouse

The Storehouse belongs to a private home, and Sabae City notes that it is not open to the public (checked October 2026). It stands at the back of the plot and is hard to see from the street.

The original tile-patterned wall faces the inner courtyard, so it is not visible from outside. Access and background are on the Sakai Family Residence (Sabae) page.