About the Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse
The Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse (中村弥市商店文庫蔵, Nakamura Yaichi Shōten Bunkogura) is a 2-story reinforced concrete storehouse of about 1937 on the Nakamura family estate in Honcho 1-chome, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2005.
A bunkogura is a storehouse for ledgers, papers and the family's valuables. The Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse stands midway along the row of buildings that runs back from the store on Honcho-dori, with the new reception wing on its west side and the inner room of 1894 on its east.
It has a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof of Sangawara-buki tiles on an east-west ridge and a building area of 23 square meters. The entrance is in the long south wall, while the long north wall faces an alley. In front of the entrance is a concrete Kuramae room built at the same time, which is registered separately as the new reception wing.
Why the Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse was registered
The Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse was registered as a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs values it as a reinforced concrete storehouse from the early Showa period.
Together with the new reception wing, the agency also counts it as a fairly early use of reinforced concrete in a Japanese home. A storehouse exists to protect its contents from fire, and here the family chose the new material over the traditional Dozo-zukuri method of building up thick walls of earth and plaster.
What to look for at the Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse
The exterior is the point. The walls of the Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse are painted to look like a traditional storehouse finished in white plaster. It may be concrete inside, but with its tiled gable roof it reads from outside as an ordinary white-walled kura that fits the street.
The builders did not give it a flat roof or leave the concrete bare. They wrapped the new structure in the familiar storehouse form, a different choice from the reception wing next door, which shows off its flat-roofed balcony.
Kiryu City notes that the corridor once running around the storehouse inside the inner room lost its west side when the document storehouse was rebuilt. That wording suggests the storehouse of about 1937 replaced an earlier building on the same spot. Today a storehouse of the Meiji era and one of reinforced concrete stand side by side.
Visiting the Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse
The Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse stands in the middle of the estate and its interior is not open to the public. The store hides it, so it can hardly be seen from Honcho-dori.
Its north wall faces the alley, and the white wall sometimes shows beyond the store if you look in from the mouth of the alley. Please do not walk down the alley, and keep to what you can see from the street. The layout of the whole estate and directions are on the Nakamura Yaichi Shoten and Nakamura Family Residence page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Gunma
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse
- [ Kusatsu Onsen & Tomioka Silk Mill Heritage Tours ]
Q&A
- When was the Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse built, and how?
- About 1937, as a 2-story reinforced concrete building with a gabled tiled roof. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on November 10, 2005.
- Why does the Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse look like a plastered storehouse?
- Its concrete walls are painted to imitate the white plaster of a traditional kura.
- Where is the entrance to the Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse?
- In the long south wall, fronted by the concrete room of the new reception wing. The long north wall faces the alley.
- Why was the Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse registered?
- It was registered as a model of design, valued as a reinforced concrete storehouse from the early Showa period.
- Can I visit the Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse?
- No. The interior is closed, and since it stands in the middle of the estate, it can hardly be seen from Honcho-dori.
Basic Information
| Name | Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse (中村弥市商店文庫蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-6-33 Honcho, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2005-11-10 (Heisei 17) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 23 square meters |
| Owner | Unknown (not listed in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database) |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (inside the estate, hardly visible from the street) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00004934
- Cultural Heritage Online: Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Document Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/117814
- Kiryu City: Nakamura Family Residence (Nakamura Yaichi Shoten Store) and six other buildings
- https://www.city.kiryu.lg.jp/kankou/bunkazai/1010700/kunitouroku/1002002.html
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Nakamura Yaichi Shoten New Reception Wing
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00004935
Last verified: 2026.10.06
