What the Hosoi Family Residence Document Storehouse Is
The Hosoi Family Residence Document Storehouse (細井家住宅文庫蔵, Hosoi-ke Jūtaku Bunko-gura) is a 2-storey earthen-walled storehouse built during the Bunsei era (1818 to 1830) in Shizukawa, Minamiaizu Town, Fukushima Prefecture, and was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 21 April 1998 under registration number 07-0017. It stands behind the main house of the Hosoi estate, toward the west.
It is a Dozo-zukuri building of 2 storeys with a metal-sheet roof and a building area of 54 square metres, the smallest of the four structures still listed on the estate. It is also among the oldest. Bunsei-era work predates the 1861 main house by roughly a generation.
A bunko-gura is the storehouse where a household kept its ledgers, deeds and heirlooms. For a family of village headmen, papers recording taxes and the village population could matter more than any property. This building was put up to keep such records, and the family's valuables, safe from fire and damp.
Why It Was Listed
The Hosoi Family Residence Document Storehouse was registered as contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it a valuable component of a large farmhouse compound: a main house alone does not make an estate, and it is buildings like this one that complete it.
The Agency also points to something unusual in the structure. Although the storehouse is small, a line of posts stands along the ridge line, directly under the peak of the roof. In a storehouse this size, the Agency notes, that is rare.
The walls explain the purpose. The interior is lined with hame-ita, vertical boards set edge to edge over the earthen walls. That extra work was not done for ordinary storage, and the Agency concludes that the building was intended from the start to hold valuables.
What to Look For
Look first at how the roof sits. This is an Okiyane storehouse: a separately framed roof is set on top of the plastered body rather than built into it. The gap between them helps heat escape in summer, and in a fire the roof can be lost while the body underneath survives.
Then look at the base of the walls. The lower part is clad in shitami-ita, overlapping horizontal boards that keep rain and splashing snow off the earthen wall. In a district as snowy as Minamiaizu, that cladding does real work.
The board-lined interior and the posts on the ridge line are what make the Hosoi Family Residence Document Storehouse notable, but neither can be seen from outside. For those, the Agency's description is the only guide.
Visiting
The Hosoi Family Residence Document Storehouse is on a private estate and its interior is closed. No opening days or visitor arrangements appear in material published by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Fukushima Prefecture or Minamiaizu Town (checked 1 October 2026).
Because it stands behind the main house, expect to see little or nothing of it from the road. Do not enter the property; take in the estate from the road. No signs about photography were found, but this is a lived-in home, so keep windows and residents out of your pictures.
Directions to the estate and the conditions for viewing it are on the Hosoi Family Residence page.
Q&A
- Can I visit the Hosoi Family Residence Document Storehouse?
- The interior is not open. It sits on a private estate, and no opening days or visitor arrangements could be found (checked 1 October 2026). It stands behind the main house and is hard to see from the road.
- When was the Hosoi Family Residence Document Storehouse built?
- During the Bunsei era, 1818 to 1830. That makes it part of the oldest layer among the four Hosoi buildings still listed.
- How is the Hosoi Family Residence Document Storehouse built?
- It is an earthen-walled storehouse of 2 storeys with a metal-sheet roof and a building area of 54 square metres. The roof is set on top of the body in the okiyane manner, and the base of the walls is clad in overlapping boards.
- How do we know the Hosoi Family Residence Document Storehouse was built for valuables?
- Its interior walls are lined with boards. The Agency for Cultural Affairs reads this as evidence that it was meant from the start to store valuables.
- What is unusual about the Hosoi Family Residence Document Storehouse?
- Although small, it has posts standing along the ridge line. The Agency notes this as a rare feature for a storehouse of its size.
Basic Information
| Name | Hosoi Family Residence Document Storehouse (細井家住宅文庫蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 175 Kazeshita-ko, Shizukawa, Minamiaizu Town, Minamiaizu District, Fukushima Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building), registration number 07-0017 |
| Year Designated | Registered 1998/4/21 (Heisei 10) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Earthen-walled storehouse, 2 storeys, metal-sheet roof, building area 54 square metres |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Not open to the public |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database: Hosoi Family Residence Document Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00000519
- Fukushima Prefecture, List of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Buildings), as of 1 April 2026
- https://www.pref.fukushima.lg.jp/uploaded/attachment/748318.pdf
Last verified: 2026.10.01
