Morimatsu Family Residence Clothing Storehouse

About the Morimatsu Family Residence Clothing Storehouse

The Morimatsu Family Residence Clothing Storehouse (森松家住宅衣装蔵, Morimatsu-ke Jūtaku Ishōgura) is a late-Edo (1751 to 1829) two-storey storehouse at the north-west corner of a former headman's estate in Mukonoso Higashi, Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2009.

The Morimatsu Family Residence Clothing Storehouse is small: 4.9 by 3.9 metres, with a building area of 19 m². Its gabled roof runs east to west and is laid with hongawara tiles, the heavy round-and-flat pattern. On the south it is joined to the back of the main house by a Kuramae porch, so the household could reach it without going outdoors.

The Oldest Storehouse on the Estate

As the name says, this storehouse held clothing and household furnishings. It dates to the late Edo period, making it the oldest storehouse here and probably older than the main house, which was moved to the site at the very end of the period. Whether the house was placed against the storehouse or linked to it later by the porch is not recorded.

The Morimatsu Family Residence Clothing Storehouse was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs points to the way it anchors the corner of a large estate.

The sources describe its structure differently. The national database calls it a two-storey dozō, a storehouse with thick clay walls, and notes that the walls are clad in vertical boards. Amagasaki City's list calls it a two-storey timber building. The difference may simply be how a board-clad clay storehouse is described, but this has not been confirmed.

Granite Footings and Tall Boarding

The Morimatsu Family Residence Clothing Storehouse sits on footings of cut granite. Its walls are clad in vertical boarding carried high up the wall to shield it from rain.

The west face has one small window on each floor. From its corner position, the faces towards the west and north roads are the ones on show. The boarding is kept to the same height as on the tool storehouse next door, so the two read as a single wall.

Seeing the Morimatsu Family Residence Clothing Storehouse

The Morimatsu Family Residence Clothing Storehouse belongs to a private home and its interior is not open. As it stands at the north-west corner, the exterior can be seen from the road outside that corner.

The small windows and the tiled roof are easier to see from a little way back. Keep any photographs to what can be taken from the street. The walk from Mukonoso Station is described on the Morimatsu Family Residence page.