What kannon-biraki means
Kannon-biraki are double doors meeting at the centre and opening outward to either side. The name is said to come from the doors of a shrine cabinet housing a Kannon or other image, opened to either side to reveal it.
On clay-walled storehouses, thick clay-covered double doors of this kind are fitted outside doorways and windows and closed in a fire to protect the contents. Their edges and frames are often finished with stepped plasterwork so that no gap remains when they close. The type is also widely used for temple gates, shrine cabinets and household altars.
Reading the records
Records describe double doors or windows of this kind. The archive storehouse of Nagano Meijo in Chikuma, Nagano, is noted for the high standard of plastering on its kakegonuri double doors and the brackets of its window hoods. Storehouse No. 5 of the Ninomiya family in Seiro, Niigata, with a namako-tiled dado and white plaster above, has two windows one above the other in its east gable, each closed by kakegonuri double doors.
On site, look for two leaves meeting at the centre outside a doorway or window. Storehouse doors are thick and heavy and are often fastened back against the wall when open.
References
- 長野銘醸文庫蔵｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010299
- 二宮家住宅五号土蔵｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005969
Last verified: 2026.09.27