What the Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse is
The Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse (若喜商店煉瓦蔵, Wakaki Shōten Rengagura) is a 3-story brick tool store built in 1904 on the premises of a miso and soy sauce maker in Aza Sanchome, Kitakata City, Fukushima Prefecture, and listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2001.
It has a tiled roof and a footprint of 46 square meters, so it is tall for its width, a slim block of red brick rising 3 floors. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs it stands behind the shop facing a side lane and was built to hold the business's tools. The zashiki storehouse is joined to its east end, and the 2 make up a single brick composition.
Both the agency and Wakaki Shoten date it to 1904. The Fukushima Prefectural Education Center's online encyclopedia says "around 1905," so sources differ by a year.
Why the Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse was registered
It was registered as a building that "has become a model of form." The Agency for Cultural Affairs records that it was the first private building put up with brick from a Kitakata works, that it is said to have been built by Tanaka Mataichi, who spread brick construction in the town, and that the decorative brickwork at the eaves shows fine craftsmanship and survives in good condition.
The word "model" matters here. Wakaki Shoten explains that a brick works opened in the Mitsuya district when the railway arrived in 1904, and that many storehouses were built of its brick afterward. The Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse stands at the start of that story, a pattern for the brick storehouses, walls and chimneys that followed around Kitakata.
It was registered on October 12, 2001, as number 07-0059. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's modern industrial heritage list also names it, as the "Wakaki Shoten brick zashiki storehouse," among Kitakata's red brick sites.
What to look for at the Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse
Look at the top of the wall. Under the eaves of the Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse, courses of brick step forward a little at a time to form ledges and bands. None of that is needed to hold the roof up; it is the decorative work the agency singles out. From the garden, at 3 stories up, the shadow lines stack one above another.
Then look at the color. Kitakata City notes that local brick has a reddish glaze. After more than a century, each brick shows its own shade, and with little patching the unevenness of the firing is still there to see.
Compare it with the zashiki storehouse next door, built the same year. As a tool store, the brick storehouse has small openings and keeps its ornament to the eaves; the zashiki storehouse, made for guests, carries decoration around its middle as well.
Visiting the Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse
The ground floor of the Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse is a display room opening straight off the shop, and entry is free. The company gives viewing hours of about 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. At the far end, a glass panel looks into the ground-floor room of the adjoining zashiki storehouse. The second and third floors are closed.
For the exterior, the garden behind the shop gives the best view, and the lane side can also be seen from the road. Stepping back a little helps you take in the full 3-story height and the brickwork at the eaves. Photography rules are not posted online, so check at the shop.
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- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse
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Q&A
- When was the Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs and Wakaki Shoten both give 1904. The Fukushima Prefectural Education Center encyclopedia says around 1905.
- Why is the Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was the first private building made with brick from a Kitakata works, and its decorative brickwork at the eaves is finely done. It was registered in 2001 as a model of form.
- Can I go inside the Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse?
- The ground-floor display room is open free of charge from about 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The upper floors are closed.
- Who built the Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs says it is believed to have been built by Tanaka Mataichi, who spread brick construction in Kitakata.
- How does the Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse differ from the zashiki storehouse?
- The brick storehouse is a 3-story tool store; the zashiki storehouse, joined to its east end, is a 2-story building with guest rooms. Both date from 1904, but the zashiki storehouse has richer brick ornament.
Basic Information
| Name | Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 4786 Aza Sanchome, Kitakata City, Fukushima Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2001 (Heisei 13) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Brick, 3 stories, tiled roof, building area 46 m² |
| Owner | Not listed in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database (business operated by Wakaki Shoten Co., Ltd.) |
| Public Access | 1st-floor display room open free (about 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.); 2nd and 3rd floors closed |
References
- Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002354
- Wakaki Shoten Brick Storehouse (Cultural Heritage Online, Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/115234
- Brick Storehouse and Zashiki Storehouse (Wakaki Shoten, Japanese)
- https://www.wakaki-kura.jp/kura/
- Wakaki Shoten (Utsukushima Electronic Encyclopedia, Fukushima Prefectural Education Center, Japanese)
- https://www.gimu.fks.ed.jp/plugin/databases/detail/2/18/321
- Kitakata City Cultural Property Preservation and Utilization Plan, Chapter 2 (Kitakata City, Japanese)
- https://www.city.kitakata.fukushima.jp/uploaded/attachment/43016.pdf
Last verified: 2026.10.04
