What Is the Watanabe Family Residence Storehouse Annex?
The Watanabe Family Residence Storehouse Annex (渡邉家住宅土蔵別館, Watanabe-ke Jūtaku Dozō Bekkan) is a 2-storey detached guest pavilion in clay-walled storehouse construction, facing the Seto River on the Watanabe Sake Brewery lot in Ichinomachi, Furukawa-cho, Hida City, Gifu Prefecture; built in 1934, it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 17 February 2004. It covers 40 square meters.
Outside it is built like a Dozo-zukuri storehouse, but inside it is a Zashiki, a formal room for receiving guests. The roof is a hip-and-gable Irimoya-zukuri form in sheet metal. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, it stands between the Sake Brewery and the Pickle Storehouse, and it is the newest of the six registered Watanabe buildings.
The Work of a Furukawa Master Carpenter
The Watanabe Family Residence Storehouse Annex was registered as No. 21-0052 for its contribution to the historic landscape. It was registered on its own, about 1 year and 9 months before the other five buildings.
The agency records the master carpenter as Nakamura Fusakichi of Furukawa. He is the only builder named in the registration records for any of the six buildings, and his pavilion shows how a local carpenter absorbed the fashions of the early Showa years.
Western Touches on a Storehouse Body
The first thing to notice on the Watanabe Family Residence Storehouse Annex is the wall facing the river. Instead of lime plaster it has a washed-aggregate mortar finish, scored with joint lines so that it reads like dressed stone.
At the line between the floors runs a small pent roof in the manner of a belt course, and under the eaves is a band modeled on a Nokijabara, the moulded cornice of Western buildings. Translating these horizontal mouldings into storehouse construction gives the building its Western air.
Inside, the ground floor is a 10-mat tatami room with a wide veranda on the river side. The upper floor is a Western-style room lit by tall, narrow Western-style windows. A tatami room below and a Western room above: a very 1930s way of combining the two traditions in one small pavilion.
Visiting the Watanabe Family Residence Storehouse Annex
The Watanabe Family Residence Storehouse Annex stands on brewery property and its interior is not open to the public. Its stone-effect wall faces the Seto River, so the lane along the river is the place to view it. Among the white storehouse walls, look for the scored joint lines and the tall upper windows.
Nothing in the brewery's tour information indicates that visitors enter the pavilion, and the grounds are private, so the riverside lane is as close as you can get.
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Q&A
- What is the Watanabe Family Residence Storehouse Annex?
- A 2-storey guest pavilion built in clay-walled storehouse style, facing the Seto River. It has a hip-and-gable sheet-metal roof, a 10-mat tatami room with a veranda downstairs and a Western-style room upstairs, and covers 40 square meters.
- When was the Watanabe Family Residence Storehouse Annex built?
- In 1934, making it the newest of the six registered Watanabe buildings. The master carpenter is recorded as Nakamura Fusakichi of Furukawa.
- When was the Watanabe Family Residence Storehouse Annex registered as a cultural property?
- On 17 February 2004, as Registered Tangible Cultural Property No. 21-0052, ahead of the other five buildings.
- What are the features of the Watanabe Family Residence Storehouse Annex?
- The river-facing wall of washed mortar scored to look like stone, the belt-course pent roof and cornice-style band under the eaves, and the tall windows of the upstairs Western room.
- Can I go inside the Watanabe Family Residence Storehouse Annex?
- No. The interior is closed, but the exterior can be seen from the lane along the Seto River. The brewery's tour information does not mention the Storehouse Annex.
Basic Information
| Name | Watanabe Family Residence Storehouse Annex (渡邉家住宅土蔵別館) |
|---|---|
| Location | 7-3 Ichinomachi, Furukawa-cho, Hida City, Gifu Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), No. 21-0052 |
| Year Designated | Registered 17 February 2004 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 2-storey clay-walled building, sheet-metal roof, building area 40 square meters |
| Owner | Not listed in the national database |
| Public Access | Interior closed (exterior visible from the street) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Watanabe Family Residence Storehouse Annex (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003855
- Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Structures) (Gifu Prefecture, in Japanese)
- https://www.pref.gifu.lg.jp/page/12417.html
- Seto River and the White-Walled Storehouses (Hida City Official Tourism Site, in Japanese)
- https://www.hida-kankou.jp/spot/278
Last verified: 2026.09.28
