Senoue Shimanuki Main Family Residence Bunko Storehouse

About the Senoue Shimanuki Main Family Residence Bunko Storehouse

The Senoue Shimanuki Main Family Residence Bunko Storehouse (瀬上嶋貫本家住宅文庫蔵, Senoue Shimanuki Honke Jūtaku Bunkogura) is a two-storey clay-walled dozo storehouse standing south of the front gate on the Shimanuki head family estate in Senoue-machi, Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, built in the early Meiji era (1868 to 1882) and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2013.

The Senoue Shimanuki Main Family Residence Bunko Storehouse runs east to west and covers 47 m². Its gabled roof is an Okiyane, a separate tiled roof set over the fireproof clay body and laid with sangawara pantiles. The door is on the north side toward the west, sheltered by a lean-to. Together with the front gate, this is among the oldest structures on the estate.

White Walls, Black Shutters

The walls of the Senoue Shimanuki Main Family Residence Bunko Storehouse are finished in white Shikkui plaster over a base of Namako-kabe, flat tiles fixed with raised plaster joints in a lattice pattern that guards the lower wall against rain and splashing mud.

Look up at the east wall of the upper floor. A heavy shutter hangs there, finished in the Kakegonuri manner: the edges of the leaf and its frame are plastered in stepped tiers so that they lock together when closed, sealing the contents against fire. The shutter and the Hachimaki, the thick plaster band beneath the eaves, are both done in black plaster.

Black on white reads clearly at a distance, and the east wall faces the old Ōshū Kaidō, so the shutter opens toward the highway.

A Storehouse for the Street Front

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the Senoue Shimanuki Main Family Residence Bunko Storehouse as a building that sets off the formal front of the estate, and it was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. Alongside the front gate, it shapes what travellers on the highway saw of the house.

A bunkogura is generally where a family kept deeds, account books, documents and its most valued possessions. The Shimanuki are said to have lent money and run a pawnshop under the trade name Kokuya, which would have produced plenty of paper worth guarding, but no record of what this particular storehouse held has come to light.

Seeing the Senoue Shimanuki Main Family Residence Bunko Storehouse

Because the Senoue Shimanuki Main Family Residence Bunko Storehouse stands on the street side of the estate, just south of the front gate, its black shutter and plaster band can be seen from the old highway. The official site does not say whether the storehouse interior is part of a visit. Tours of the estate are by reservation only, so ask when booking whether you can go inside and take photographs.

Directions and booking details are on the Senoue Shimanuki Main Family Residence page.