Former Aikawa Family Residence Former Store

The hardware shop on the street

The Former Aikawa Family Residence Former Store (旧相川家住宅旧店舗, Kyū Aikawa-ke Jūtaku Kyū-tenpo) is a hardware merchant's shop built in the late Edo period, sometime between 1751 and 1830, in Sankocho, Isesaki City, Gunma Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 6, 2025. It stands on the west side of Nishimachi street at the northeast corner of the Aikawa property, the first building you see when you approach from the street.

The Former Aikawa Family Residence Former Store is a two-storey building in the fireproof Dozo-zukuri earthen-wall technique, with a building area of 44 square metres. Its gabled roof (Kirizuma-zukuri) is laid with interlocking pan tiles (Sangawara-buki), and the long side faces the street, the arrangement known as Hirairi. A lean-to roof extends on the south, and the walls are finished in white Shikkui lime plaster. The building was altered in the mid-Showa period.

To the west it joins the main house, so the shop opens straight into the family's living quarters. To the south the front gate and its board wall follow on, and together shop and gate make up the eastern face of the property.

Why it was registered

The Agency for Cultural Affairs points to the low profile of the Former Aikawa Family Residence Former Store and the way it shapes the historic streetscape at the northeast corner of the site. It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape of the country.

Building the shop in dozo-zukuri was very likely about protecting stock and account books from fire. Wrapping a whole building in thick clay and lime was the Edo townhouse answer to fire, and the Aikawas used the same method for their hardware warehouse and their household Inari shrine. The museum adds that the bathhouse, kitchen and other rooms attached to the main house were pulled down as a fire precaution. Fear of fire ran through the whole household.

For a two-storey building the shop sits remarkably low. Its restrained height, layered against the main house behind and the long storehouse to the north, gives the northeast corner of the plot a settled outline.

What to look for

Start across Nishimachi street from the Former Aikawa Family Residence Former Store. The eaves of the gabled roof run parallel to the road, and the white plastered wall holds a low line. The lean-to roof on the south steps down toward the neighbouring front gate.

Inside, each floor is a single room, and on the upper floor the roof framing is left exposed in the nobori-bari manner, with inclined beams rising from the eaves toward the ridge. Leaving the ceiling open gains height inside a low building.

To picture the shop in trade, look at the photographs and signboards from the hardware business displayed in the entrance of the main house. Setting the building beside images of it at work is a good way to read it.

Visiting

Today the ground floor of the Former Aikawa Family Residence Former Store is the office of the Aikawa Archaeological Museum and the upper floor a meeting room. It is not an exhibition space, so the interior is not normally open to visitors. The exterior can be seen from Nishimachi street at any time.

Viewing it from inside the grounds requires entry to the museum during opening hours. Anyone wishing to photograph or publish museum material should contact the museum. Opening hours, admission and directions are covered on the Former Aikawa Family Residence page.