What seirōgura means
A seirōgura is a storehouse whose walls are built of squared timbers laid horizontally and interlocked at the corners like a well frame. Unlike the usual clay-walled storehouse, in which clay walls fill the spaces between posts, the stacked timbers themselves form the walls and carry the building.
The azekura, built of logs of triangular section, is another stacked-timber type; the seirōgura is distinguished by its squared timbers. The outside is often rendered with clay and lime plaster for fire protection, and then it is hard to tell from an ordinary clay-walled storehouse.
Reading the records
The archive storehouse of the former Sato family, now the Fujimoto company, in Ueda, Nagano, a two-storey building for documents and household goods with a raised pantiled roof, is recorded as a so-called seirōgura with walls of stacked squared timbers plastered outside, and is valued as a storehouse of rare construction that shapes the scene of the property.
Since the construction cannot be seen from outside, articles should follow the record. Where the interior can be entered, check whether squared timbers are stacked horizontally inside the walls.
References
- 旧佐藤家住宅（藤本）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/101/00015014
Last verified: 2026.09.27