A Store for Loom Pattern Cards
The Kobayashi Family Residence (Former Kotake Textile Co., Ltd.) Warehouse No. 2 (小林家住宅（旧小武織物有限会社）倉庫二) is a concrete-block storehouse built in 1962 in Hirosawa-cho, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on October 7, 2014. While Kotake Textile was operating, it held the firm's monshi, the punched pattern cards that told the looms what to weave.
The single-storey building has a building area of 19 square metres, a tiled gable roof, and mortar-rendered walls inside and out. It stands on the stone wall just east of the gate, facing Warehouse No. 1 across the entrance.
It is the smallest and the youngest of the six registered structures at the Kobayashi Family Residence. Warehouse No. 1 went up the year before, so the pair flanking the gate went up in consecutive years.
Why It Was Registered
Warehouse No. 2 of the Kobayashi Family Residence was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs values it as a building that records a step in textile production: the storage of pattern cards.
Monshi are stiff cards punched with holes that drive a Jacquard loom; each card sets the lift of the warp threads for one pass of the weft. A patterned obi can need a long chain of them, and the cards are, in effect, the design itself on paper, which made them valuable to any mill.
Here they were given a building of their own, separate from the factory and built of fire-resistant block. That separation of cards from looms is something the building itself still shows.
What to Look For
According to the national database, the plan is irregular rather than a clean rectangle. The building sits on the stone wall right by the gate, so it is worth noticing how the roof and the line of the wall below it meet.
Inside, the roof is carried on Wagoya, the traditional Japanese framing of posts set on beams. Warehouse No. 1 across the way uses a truss instead. Two storehouses built a year apart on the same lot ended up with different structures for different jobs.
Block walls, mortar render and a tiled gable make for a thoroughly practical little building of its decade. Its texture contrasts with the timber cladding of the main house and factory and gives the entrance to the Kobayashi Family Residence some variety.
Visiting
The Kobayashi Family Residence (Former Kotake Textile Co., Ltd.) Warehouse No. 2 is privately owned and its interior is not open to the public. No open days or tours could be found as of September 2026.
Because it stands on the wall just east of the gate, it is one of the easier structures to see from outside the property. The area inside the gate is private land, so stay outside. Photograph only from outside and avoid pointing a camera at residents or into the grounds for long. Directions to the property are on the Kobayashi Family Residence (Former Kotake Textile Co., Ltd.) page.
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Q&A
- What was the Kobayashi Family Residence (Former Kotake Textile Co., Ltd.) Warehouse No. 2 used for?
- It stored monshi, the punched pattern cards used on Jacquard looms, while Kotake Textile was in business. The Agency for Cultural Affairs values it as a record of that production step.
- When was the Kobayashi Family Residence Warehouse No. 2 built?
- The national database gives 1962. Warehouse No. 1, facing it across the gate, dates from 1961.
- How does Warehouse No. 2 differ from Warehouse No. 1 at the Kobayashi Family Residence?
- Warehouse No. 2 held pattern cards and has a traditional wagoya roof frame. Warehouse No. 1 stored yarn, housed a well and sink, and has a truss roof. Both are concrete-block buildings with tiled gable roofs.
- Can I go inside the Kobayashi Family Residence Warehouse No. 2?
- No. It is privately owned, and as of September 2026 no public openings or tours had been announced. It stands just east of the gate, so the exterior can be seen from outside the property.
- When was the Kobayashi Family Residence Warehouse No. 2 registered?
- It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 7, 2014, as number 10-0316.
Basic Information
| Name | Kobayashi Family Residence (Former Kotake Textile Co., Ltd.) Warehouse No. 2 |
|---|---|
| Location | 1111-9 Fukushima, Hirosawa-cho 5, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture, and other lots |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2014/10/7 (Heisei 26) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 19 square metres (concrete block, single storey, tiled roof) |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (exterior from outside the property) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Kobayashi Family Residence (Former Kotake Textile Co., Ltd.) Warehouse No. 2 (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010107
- Kiryu City: Kobayashi Family Residence (6 properties) (Japanese)
- https://www.city.kiryu.lg.jp/kankou/bunkazai/1010700/kunitouroku/1011321.html
- Kiryu Chamber of Commerce and Industry: Former Kotake Textile (Japanese, PDF)
- https://www.kiryucci.or.jp/FT/2013fukei/2013fukei-kotake.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.24
