Jokyu Soy Sauce Rear Zashiki: An Early Showa Parlor Building That Housed the Company Head
The Jokyu Soy Sauce Rear Zashiki (ジョーキュウ醤油裏座敷, Jōkyū Shōyu Ura-zashiki) is a two-storey parlor building of the early Showa era (1926 to 1945) in Daimyo 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 26, 2015. Its registration number is 40-0120.
It stands on the west side of the site, north of the Front Zashiki, built of timber on two floors with a tiled roof and a building area of 38 square meters. According to the company, the Jokyu Soy Sauce Rear Zashiki served as the company president's residence until 1964. It is the newest of the six registered structures at Jokyu Soy Sauce.
Plan of the Jokyu Soy Sauce Rear Zashiki
On the ground floor, corridors under Geya lean-to roofs run around three sides, and each floor has two tatami rooms. With the rooms wrapped in corridors, people could move about the house without walking through one room to reach another, a sensible plan for a family home.
The Front Zashiki to the south also has two rooms on each floor, so the two buildings share much the same bones. Where they part ways is in the details of the alcove.
Showa-Era Invention in the Alcove of the Jokyu Soy Sauce Rear Zashiki
The alcove fittings on the ground floor are worked with care. In front of a flat shoin window, a roughly triangular shelf board has been added to make it read like a Tsukeshoin. A flat shoin is simply a paper-screened opening set in the wall, while a tsukeshoin projects outward like a built-in desk; the added board lends the flat version something of the desk's presence.
The low cupboard and the Tenbukuro, the small cupboard set high in the Tokowaki beside the alcove, are both built on a trapezoidal plan rather than a plain rectangle. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls these touches elaborate in a way typical of the Showa era.
The Jokyu Soy Sauce Rear Zashiki was registered as a structure that contributes to the historic landscape of the country. Keeping the standard alcove arrangement while nudging its shapes off the rectangle is something often seen in early Showa interiors, and this building keeps a good example of it on the west side of the site.
Seeing the Jokyu Soy Sauce Rear Zashiki
There is no notice of the interior being open to the public. The alcove, the main point of interest, is inside, so expect not to see it.
From outside, look for the corridors under lean-to roofs on three sides of the ground floor. Looking along the west side of the site to the Front Zashiki in the south, you see parlor buildings from the early Meiji and early Showa eras standing one after the other.
Ask at the retail shop how far you may go on the site and whether you may take photographs. Directions and the visiting conditions shared by all six structures are on the Jokyu Soy Sauce page.
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Q&A
- What is the Jokyu Soy Sauce Rear Zashiki?
- It is an early Showa two-storey timber parlor building on the west side of the Jokyu Soy Sauce site, north of the Front Zashiki. According to the company, it was the company president's residence until 1964.
- What is special about the alcove in the Jokyu Soy Sauce Rear Zashiki?
- A roughly triangular shelf board in front of the flat shoin window makes it look like a projecting tsukeshoin, and the cupboards beside the alcove are built on a trapezoidal plan. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls these details typical of the Showa era.
- How does the Jokyu Soy Sauce Rear Zashiki differ from the Front Zashiki?
- The Front Zashiki is an early Meiji reception building, while the Rear Zashiki dates from the early Showa era and served as the president's home. Both have two rooms per floor, but the Rear Zashiki adds corridors on three sides of the ground floor and more inventive alcove details.
- When was the Jokyu Soy Sauce Rear Zashiki registered as a cultural property?
- It was entered on the register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 26, 2015, under registration number 40-0120.
- Can visitors go inside the Jokyu Soy Sauce Rear Zashiki?
- There is no notice of the interior being open to the public. Ask at the retail shop whether the site can be viewed.
Basic Information
| Name | Jokyu Soy Sauce Rear Zashiki (ジョーキュウ醤油裏座敷) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-330-1 Daimyo, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registration no. 40-0120 |
| Year Designated | Registered March 26, 2015 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, two storeys, tiled roof, building area 38 square meters |
| Owner | JOKYU Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | No announced public opening of the interior (ask at the retail shop about viewing on site) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Jokyu Shoyu Ura-zashiki
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010528
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Jokyu Shoyu Omote-zashiki
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010527
- Cultural Heritage Online: Jokyu Shoyu Ura-zashiki
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/234248
- JOKYU: Registered Tangible Cultural Properties
- https://www.jokyu.co.jp/history/property/index.html
Last verified: 2026.09.30
