About the Wakana Family Residence Brick Zashiki Storehouse
The Wakana Family Residence Brick Zashiki Storehouse (若菜家住宅煉瓦座敷蔵, Wakana-ke Jūtaku Renga Zashikigura) is a one-story brick storehouse built in 1916 to hold a formal guest room, part of the Wakana Family Residence in Iwatsuki-machi, Kitakata City, Fukushima Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on September 10, 2010.
A zashiki is the tatami reception room of a Japanese house, and a zashikigura puts that room inside the heavy walls of a storehouse. The Kitakata Tourism and Products Association counts storehouse living quarters of this kind among the many uses of the town's kura. The Wakana building covers 37 square meters and runs north to south beside the road, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a zashiki storehouse of fine quality.
Two Kinds of Arch
The walls of the Wakana zashiki storehouse rise from a cut-stone base in English bond, a course of bricks laid lengthwise alternating with a course that shows only their ends, which gives the surface a fine horizontal stripe. Brick pilasters project at the corners and frame each wall.
The arches change with direction. Windows facing the road are full semicircles, while the doorway on the east side is a segmental arch, a flatter slice of a circle. The face shown to passers-by and the entrance turned toward the family's own yard each get their own curve.
A Lacquered Parlor Behind Brick
Inside the Brick Zashiki Storehouse, the Agency records a veranda, the zashiki itself and a tea room, with the posts and beams finished in lacquer. Local tourism information adds that the timber is zelkova and that the room was used to lodge guests, hold gatherings and serve tea.
The same local sources describe the structure as Kitakata-style timber-framed brick, a wooden skeleton clad in brick, and say it can be seen from inside; the Agency's database simply lists a one-story brick building. Glass-plate photographs and household objects from the Taisho and Showa eras are now displayed in the room.
Local guides date the building to 1917, a year later than the 1916 recorded by the Agency and in Fukushima Prefecture's list. This article follows the Agency.
Visiting the Brick Zashiki Storehouse
The Wakana Family Residence Brick Zashiki Storehouse is one of the two buildings you can enter on a visit to the Wakana storehouses. The sheen of the lacquered frame and the depth of the window openings in the thick brick walls only really register from inside.
Outside, look at the semicircular windows on the road side first, then walk into the yard to compare the segmental arch of the east doorway. No photography policy is published, so ask the family before photographing the room or the displays.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Fukushima
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Wakana Family Residence Brick Zashiki Storehouse
- [ Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle & Ouchi-juku Village Tours ]
Q&A
- When was the Wakana Family Residence Brick Zashiki Storehouse built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to 1916; local guides give 1917. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on September 10, 2010.
- Can visitors go inside the Wakana Family Residence Brick Zashiki Storehouse?
- Yes. A visit to the Wakana storehouses (200 yen for adults, free for students) includes the interior, with its veranda, zashiki, tea room and lacquered frame. Ask on site about photography.
- What was the Wakana Family Residence Brick Zashiki Storehouse used for?
- According to local tourism information, it lodged guests and hosted gatherings and tea. The parlor is built of zelkova.
- How are the bricks of the Wakana Family Residence Brick Zashiki Storehouse laid?
- In English bond on a cut-stone base, with pilasters at the corners. The road side has semicircular arched windows, and the east doorway is a segmental arch.
- Why is the Wakana Family Residence Brick Zashiki Storehouse a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered for contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it a zashiki storehouse of fine quality, noting its lacquered frame.
Basic Information
| Name | Wakana Family Residence Brick Zashiki Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 3819 Katsukosaku, Miyazu, Iwatsuki-machi, Kitakata City, Fukushima Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered September 10, 2010 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 37 square meters |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | Interior open to visitors (adults 200 yen, students free) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Wakana Family Residence Brick Zashiki Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008255
- Cultural Heritage Online: Wakana Family Residence Brick Zashiki Storehouse (Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/145987
- List of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Structures) in Fukushima Prefecture (Fukushima Prefecture, PDF, Japanese)
- https://www.pref.fukushima.lg.jp/uploaded/attachment/748318.pdf
- Kitakata Tourism and Products Association: Features of Kitakata's Kura (Japanese)
- https://www.kitakata-kanko.jp/?page_id=1944
- Gurutto Aizu: Mitsuya Brick Storehouses (Wakana Family) (Japanese)
- https://www.gurutto-aizu.com/detail/526/index.html
- Fukulabo: Mitsuya Brick Storehouses (Wakana Family) (Japanese)
- https://www.fukulabo.net/shop/shop.shtml?s=9696
Last verified: 2026.10.04
