What the Former Kai Family Residence Kurazashiki is
The Former Kai Family Residence Kurazashiki (旧甲斐家住宅蔵座敷, Kyū Kai-ke Jūtaku Kurazashiki) is a 2-story Dozo-zukuri storehouse parlor completed in 1923 in Aza Itchome, Kitakata City, Fukushima Prefecture, and was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2001.
A kurazashiki, or Zashiki-gura, is a fireproof earthen storehouse with fine reception rooms built inside it, a type found across inland Tōhoku. This one stands at the far western end of the Kai brewing family's compound and covers 169 square meters. Its walls are coated in black Shikkui plaster under a tiled roof; the ground floor holds the formal rooms and the upper floor served as a store for household goods. The Agency for Cultural Affairs registers it as kurazashiki, while Kitakata City writes the same word the other way round, zashikigura.
The fourth Kai Kichigorō built it together with the main house, the shop storehouse and the garden over seven years. Family records say the storehouse shells went up first, then the old house was replaced, and the interior of the Former Kai Family Residence Kurazashiki was fitted out last. Apart from weddings and funerals, the rooms were where Kichigorō entertained honored guests over sake.
Why it was registered
The Former Kai Family Residence Kurazashiki was registered under the criterion of "serving as a model of design." The agency's note points to the high-grade materials of this 2-story storehouse and to the paired ground-floor rooms, an upper room of 21 tatami mats and a second room of 18 mats, each with a Tokonoma alcove and side shelves (Tokowaki). It calls the building large and weighty even by local standards.
The city's account, drawn from Kai family papers, adds a 12-mat tatami corridor, making 51 mats in all. A built-in writing desk (Tsukeshoin) sits in the upper room. Outside runs a Kirime-en veranda floored with Keyaki boards about 1.2 meters wide and 6 centimeters thick, and the rooms had their own marble bath and lavatory.
Its registration on April 24, 2001, was the earliest of the ten listings at the Former Kai Family Residence, and it is often introduced as the first Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Kitakata.
What to look for
The joinery is described as all-hinoki: knot-free Hinoki cypress throughout. The frames of the sliding paper doors are rosewood (shitan), heavy enough that hinoki sills would wear under them, so oak was set into the sills to carry the load. The choice is invisible once the doors are closed, which says a good deal about how the Former Kai Family Residence Kurazashiki was built.
The alcove posts differ by room: ironwood (tagayasan) and straight-grained hinoki in the upper room, striped ebony in the second. Ebony frames the writing-desk window. Gold-cloud paper covers every wall surface so that no plaster shows, and the tatami facings, woven only from top-grade rush, are said to have lasted until 1979 without being replaced.
From the garden side the black walls and heavy tiled roof dominate. The parlor and the main house together wrap around the garden laid out by Matsumoto Kamekichi, so the rooms were planned to look out onto it.
Visiting the Former Kai Family Residence Kurazashiki
The Former Kai Family Residence Kurazashiki has been closed since April 2023 while the whole estate undergoes conservation work, and in 2025 it was structurally reinforced along with the shop storehouse and the soy sauce storehouse. It sits at the back of the site and can barely be seen from the street.
The interior can be entered only at the special openings held about once a year during the works; the next is planned for March 2027, with details to come from Kitakata City. The city website hosts VR footage of the interiors before and during the repairs, a good way to grasp the depth of the 51-mat rooms in advance. Directions and the repair schedule are on the Former Kai Family Residence page.
Q&A
- When was the Former Kai Family Residence Kurazashiki built?
- Work started in 1917 and the building is said to have been finished in 1923. The fourth Kai Kichigorō built it together with the main house, the shop storehouse and the garden.
- Can I go inside the Former Kai Family Residence Kurazashiki?
- Not on a normal visit. The estate has been closed for conservation work since April 2023. Special openings are held about once a year during the works, and the next one is planned for March 2027.
- How large are the rooms in the Former Kai Family Residence Kurazashiki?
- The upper room has 21 tatami mats, the second room 18 and the tatami corridor 12, for 51 mats in total. Both main rooms have an alcove and side shelves.
- What woods were used in the Former Kai Family Residence Kurazashiki?
- Knot-free hinoki throughout, rosewood for the sliding-door frames, ironwood and striped ebony for the alcove posts, ebony for the writing-desk window and keyaki for the veranda, with oak set into the sills to carry the weight.
- Is the Former Kai Family Residence Kurazashiki the same as the "zashikigura" or "Crow Castle"?
- Yes for the first: kurazashiki is the registered name and zashikigura the term Kitakata City uses for the same building. Ujō, or Crow Castle, is a nickname for the whole black-walled estate.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Kai Family Residence Kurazashiki (Storehouse Parlor) |
|---|---|
| Location | 4611-1 Aza Itchome and others, Kitakata City, Fukushima Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2001 (Heisei 13) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Dozo-zukuri, 2 stories, tiled roof, building area 169 m² |
| Owner | Kitakata City |
| Public Access | Closed since 2023 for conservation work planned through fiscal 2030; interior open only at special openings |
References
- Former Kai Family Residence Kurazashiki (Agency for Cultural Affairs database)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002110
- Former Kai Family Residence Kurazashiki (Cultural Heritage Online)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/186840
- What is the Former Kai Family Kura Residence (Kitakata City)
- https://www.city.kitakata.fukushima.jp/site/kyukaike/57980.html
- Conservation work on the Former Kai Family Kura Residence (Kitakata City)
- https://www.city.kitakata.fukushima.jp/site/kyukaike/57982.html
- VR videos of the Former Kai Family Kura Residence (Kitakata City)
- https://www.city.kitakata.fukushima.jp/site/kyukaike/49341.html
Last verified: 2026.10.01
