The Working Building of an Elegant House
Every household that entertains also needs somewhere to store things, and at the Takazoe residence in Takarazuka that job fell to a small plastered storehouse. The Takazoe Family Residence, Storehouse (Takazoe-ke Jutaku Dozo) stands east of the Japanese wing, its ridge running east to west. Built in the traditional dozo manner, two storeys of thick earthen wall finished in plaster, it covers a building area of only about 11 square metres. It is by far the most modest of the four registered structures on the property, and that modesty is part of what makes it worth noticing.
The register dates the storehouse to the early Showa period, giving a year of 1945. Where the Western house was meant to impress and the Japanese wing to be lived in, the storehouse was meant to work. Its value lies not in ornament but in solid, well-made vernacular construction, the kind of building that quietly supported daily life in the hillside suburbs of the Hanshin region.
Why It Is Protected
The storehouse was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property on 29 November 2016, in the 85th round, under number 28-0656. Like the Japanese wing, it was listed as a structure that contributes to the historic landscape of the nation. The point of that criterion is that a storehouse gains meaning as part of a whole. Alone it is a plain box; standing among the Western house, the Japanese wing and the gate, it completes the picture of how one family built and used its ground.
The construction itself repays a close look. The roof frame is built in the nobori-bari method, in which sloping beams follow the pitch of the roof, and the roof is covered with honshogawara, the heavier round-and-flat tile once reserved for buildings of substance. On the south and west faces of the upper floor, windows were opened to let in light, and small pent eaves were fixed above them. Those eaves are plastered in white lime all the way from the supporting corbels up to the roof surface, so that the whole is sealed in a continuous white skin. For an 11-square-metre store, that is a considerable degree of finish.
What to Look For
The storehouse cannot be entered, and from the street it may be the least conspicuous of the group. That is exactly why it rewards a patient eye. Look for the white-plastered eaves over the upper windows and the way the plaster runs unbroken across corbel and window hood. In a purely functional building, that continuous white surface is a quiet mark of quality.
It also helps to read the storehouse in relation to its neighbours. Placed to the east of the Japanese wing, it belonged to the domestic, working side of the property rather than the side turned toward guests. Together with the elegant houses and the sukiya gate, it records the everyday reality behind the polished image of a Hanshin garden suburb. The register makes this explicit, treating the storehouse as evidence of how modern suburban residential development actually took shape on the ground.
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Q&A
- Can I go into the storehouse?
- No. It is part of a privately owned residence and is not open to the public. Please view the property only from the surrounding streets and respect the residents' privacy.
- What does dozo construction mean?
- A dozo is a Japanese storehouse built with thick earthen walls finished in lime plaster. The heavy walls resist fire and pests, which is why such buildings were long used to keep valuables and household goods.
- When was it built?
- The register places it in the early Showa period and records a year of 1945. It is later than the Western house of 1928 and earlier than the Japanese wing of 1954.
- What is honshogawara tile?
- It is a traditional roofing system that alternates broad flat tiles with rounded cover tiles over the joints. It is heavier and more formal than the single-piece pantile, and was used on buildings of some standing.
- Why is such a small building a cultural property?
- Its value comes from the group it belongs to. As one of four registered structures on the Takazoe property, the storehouse helps document how a family built and used a hillside home in a Hanshin garden suburb.
Basic Information
| Name | Takazoe Family Residence, Storehouse (Takazoe-ke Jutaku Dozo) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-148 Hibarigaoka-yamate, Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registered 29 November 2016 (85th round), no. 28-0656 |
| Criterion | Contributes to the historic landscape of the nation |
| Built | Early Showa period (register year: 1945) |
| Structure | Earthen storehouse construction, two storeys, tile roof; building area about 11 square metres; one building |
| Access | Hillside above Hibarigaoka-Hanayashiki Station, Hankyu Takarazuka Line |
| Public access | Private residence; not open to the public |
References
- National Database of Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Takazoe Family Residence, Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00011368
- Cultural Heritage Online, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Takazoe Family Residence, Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/254825
- City of Takarazuka Official Website — List of Cultural Properties
- https://www.city.takarazuka.hyogo.jp/1060683/1060709/rekishi/1026244/1003729.html
Last verified: 2026.07.11