Brick Below, Plaster Above
Heishi Family Residence Document Storehouse (瓶子家住宅文庫蔵, Heishi-ke Jūtaku Bunko-gura) is a two-storey fireproof storehouse at Moriai in Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, built in 1913 in the Dozo-zukuri earthen-walled manner and entered on the register of Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 29 November 2016. It stands immediately west of the Taishō annex in the Heishi family compound and covers 55 square metres.
The roof is a Kirizuma-zukuri gable sheathed in batten-seamed sheet metal. On the south side, the eastern half carries a projecting entrance porch, a Tomae sheltered under a lean-to Geya roof. The lower storey is faced in brick; everything above is white Shikkui lime plaster. Windows are few: on the south side of the ground floor and in both gable ends upstairs.
A bunko-gura is the storehouse where a household kept its papers, books and valuables. Apart from the shrine of 1888, it is the only building in the Heishi compound dated to a specific year.
Why It Was Registered
Heishi Family Residence Document Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. A white storehouse standing shoulder to shoulder with the annex behind the main house is a defining element of the private rear of a wealthy farming estate.
What sets it apart is the marriage of a traditional earthen storehouse with brick. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the ground floor is faced in brick laid in Stretcher bond, stretcher bond, which shows only the long faces and produces a clean horizontal pattern. A brick base guards the lower wall against splashback and knocks and gives the building visual weight. It is a neat example of how a provincial household in the early Taishō years worked a newer material into an old building type.
The interior holds a surprise. The floors are boarded and the walls lined with horizontal planks, but parts of a tatami edging strip and a ranma transom between rooms survive. At some point part of the storehouse was partitioned as a tatami room, which suggests it may have served as a place to write or consult records as well as to store them.
What to Look For
Outside, the change from brick to plaster is the thing to notice. Heishi Family Residence Document Storehouse rises in two layers, a band of red stretcher bond with white wall above, a design that brings a Western material into a Japanese storehouse.
The entrance porch on the south side is worth a look. The heavy storehouse doors sit under their own lean-to roof, protected from rain. The restraint of the windows, only on the south of the ground floor and in the gable ends above, follows the first rule of the storehouse: keep openings few to shut out fire and damp.
Inside, the tatami edging and transom are traces of a room that once existed within the store. They cannot be seen from outside, but they hint that this was more than a strongroom.
Visiting
Heishi Family Residence Document Storehouse is part of a private home and is not open to the public. Neither the Agency nor Fukushima City lists any open days (checked 1 October 2026).
The storehouse stands west of the annex deep inside the compound and is hard to make out from outside the grounds. To get a sense of the brick and plaster exterior, look at the listing on Cultural Heritage Online before you go. No notice prohibiting exterior photography could be found, but please do not photograph into the grounds.
Directions and general visiting conditions are on the Heishi Family Residence page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Fukushima
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Heishi Family Residence Document Storehouse
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Q&A
- Can I go inside the Heishi Family Residence Document Storehouse?
- No. It is part of a private residence and the interior is closed. No open days are listed by the Agency for Cultural Affairs or Fukushima City (checked 1 October 2026).
- When was the Heishi Family Residence Document Storehouse built?
- In 1913. It stands beside the annex of the same period.
- What are the walls of the Heishi Family Residence Document Storehouse made of?
- The ground floor is faced in brick laid in stretcher bond, with lime plaster above. It combines a traditional earthen storehouse with brick.
- Was there a tatami room inside the Heishi Family Residence Document Storehouse?
- According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, parts of a tatami edging strip and a transom between rooms survive, showing that part of the storehouse was once partitioned as a tatami room.
- How big is the Heishi Family Residence Document Storehouse?
- It is a two-storey earthen-walled storehouse with a building area of 55 square metres and a gabled roof of batten-seamed sheet metal.
Basic Information
| Name | Heishi Family Residence Document Storehouse (瓶子家住宅文庫蔵 / Heishi-ke Jūtaku Bunko-gura) |
|---|---|
| Location | 35-1 Aza-Dai, Moriai, Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registration no. 07-0171 |
| Year Designated | Registered 2016/11/29 (Heisei 28), 85th round |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Earthen-walled storehouse, 2 storeys, sheet-metal roof, building area 55 square metres |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | Not open to the public |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Heishi Family Residence Document Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00011249
- Cultural Heritage Online: Heishi Family Residence Document Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/220974
- Fukushima City: Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Structures), 66 Entries
- https://www.city.fukushima.fukushima.jp/soshiki/7/1032/2/1/3/725.html
Last verified: 2026.10.01
