Horiguchi Family Residence Shop Storehouse

The Black-Plastered Shop at the Front

The Horiguchi Family Residence Shop Storehouse (堀口家住宅店蔵, Horiguchi-ke Jūtaku Misegura) is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri clay-walled shop of 1866 at the north-west corner of the Horiguchi hardware merchants' compound in Kaminocho, Shibukawa City, Gunma Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 4 December 2000.

A misegura is a shop built like a fireproof storehouse, with thick earthen walls sealed in plaster. The date comes from a Munafuda, the ridge tablet recording the construction. The building is 4 bays wide and 3.5 bays deep, with a building area of 51 square metres, under a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof of Sangawara-buki pan tiles. The long side faces the street in the Hirairi manner, and the walls are finished in black Shikkui plaster. This is where the Horiguchi family sold its hardware.

Why It Was Registered: A Finish That Is Hard to Reproduce

The Horiguchi Family Residence Shop Storehouse was registered as a structure that would be difficult to reproduce. Of the five Horiguchi buildings registered on the same day, it is the only one listed under that criterion; the other four were registered as models of their type.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out its weight and solidity. Shibukawa City points to the polished black plaster and ranks the finish alongside the shop storehouses of Kawagoe in Saitama Prefecture, a town known for them.

Polished black plaster is built up in many thin coats and then burnished until it shines, work that depends heavily on a plasterer's time and skill. That quality of finish is the likely reason the building was judged hard to reproduce.

What to Look For: A Dark Facade Facing North

The Horiguchi Family Residence Shop Storehouse stands at the north-west corner of a long, narrow plot and faces north onto the road. Its black front runs 4 bays along the street, with the eaves side of the gabled roof parallel to it.

Against its east wall stands the timber annex of 1896. Seen side by side, the sealed plaster walls of the shop and the wooden walls of the annex make the difference between the two building methods easy to read.

The main house stands directly behind, its ridge parallel to the shop's. From the street, the face of the Horiguchi business is essentially this one facade, with the family's living quarters kept out of sight behind it.

Visiting the Horiguchi Family Residence Shop Storehouse

Horiguchi Co., Ltd. keeps the Horiguchi Family Residence Shop Storehouse as part of its former head office, known as the Misegura Kinenkan (Shop Storehouse Memorial Hall). No opening days or hours for the interior are published, so a visit means looking at the exterior from the road.

Because the shop faces the road, its front is clearly visible from the street. From the opposite side of the road you can take in the full 4-bay facade and the line of the roof at once. Please do not enter the grounds.