About the Kawai Family Villa Storehouse
The Kawai Family Villa Storehouse (河合家別邸土蔵, Kawai-ke Bettei Dozō) is a storehouse built in the middle Meiji period, between 1883 and 1897, in Ichinomachi, Furukawa-cho, Hida City, Gifu Prefecture, and it became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 13, 2012. It stands at the center of the north side of the Kawai Family Villa lot, enclosed by the main house of around 1941.
The Kawai villa storehouse is a 2-storey Dozo-zukuri building with a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof in metal sheet and a footprint of 40 square meters. It is square in plan, 6.4 meters on each side, with its ridge running east to west. Of the three registered parts of the villa, it is the only one that dates back to the Meiji era.
Why the Storehouse Was Registered
The Kawai Family Villa Storehouse was registered for contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs says that together with the main house it creates a fine townhouse setting.
What matters is that the storehouse does not stand alone. The H-shaped plan of the main house, built some fifty years later, was laid out around it. Keeping an old storehouse and building a new home around it is the defining move of the whole villa.
What to Notice
A door onto the house corridor
The door of the Kawai Family Villa Storehouse is on its south face and opens onto a corridor of the main house. Because the entrance faces an indoor corridor rather than a yard, the family could reach the storehouse without stepping into rain or snow. The way the house wraps the storehouse serves everyday convenience.
A family crest in black plaster
Inside the doorway, in its upper part, hangs a door decorated with the family crest in black Shikkui plaster. That door is the most carefully finished feature of the storehouse. The design of the crest is not described in the sources consulted.
A detached roof over a traditional frame
The roof is of the Okiyane type, framed separately and set over the plastered earthen body. The roof structure itself is a Wagoya, the traditional Japanese frame of short posts standing on beams. From outside one sees only a gabled metal roof, but beneath it the body of the storehouse and its roof are two separate layers.
Seeing the Kawai Family Villa Storehouse
The Kawai Family Villa Storehouse is privately owned and not open to the public. Enclosed by the main house at the back of the lot, with its door facing the house corridor, it is unlikely to be visible from the street at all.
The crest door hangs inside the storehouse and cannot be seen from outside either. Visitors can view the gate and fence along the street from the public road, but should not enter the grounds.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Gifu
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Kawai Family Villa Storehouse
- [ Shirakawago & Takayama Old Town Tours ]
Q&A
- When was the Kawai Family Villa Storehouse built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the middle Meiji period, between 1883 and 1897, about half a century before the main house of around 1941.
- Why is the Kawai Family Villa Storehouse a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- Together with the main house it creates a fine townhouse setting and was judged to contribute to the historic landscape. It was registered on August 13, 2012.
- How large is the Kawai Family Villa Storehouse?
- It is a 2-storey earthen-walled storehouse with a gabled metal roof, 6.4 meters square and 40 square meters in footprint.
- Where is the family crest on the Kawai Family Villa Storehouse?
- On a door hung in the upper part of the doorway on the south face, worked in black plaster.
- Can I see the Kawai Family Villa Storehouse?
- It is privately owned and not open to the public. Because the main house surrounds it, little or nothing of it can be seen from the street.
Basic Information
| Name | Kawai Family Villa Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 5-16 Ichinomachi, Furukawa-cho, Hida City, Gifu Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered August 13, 2012 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Dozo-zukuri, 2 storeys, metal sheet roof; footprint 40 square meters (6.4 meters square) |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (barely visible from the street) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Kawai Family Villa Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00009281
- Cultural Heritage Online: Kawai Family Villa Storehouse (Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/205964
- Hida City Board of Education: List of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (PDF, Japanese)
- https://hida-bunka.jp/wphidabunka/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/list04-20200313.pdf
Last verified: 2026.10.03
