A Taisho Shopfront on the Old Highway at Kamimachi
The Former Onose Family Residence Store (旧小野瀬家住宅店舗, Kyū-Onose-ke Jūtaku Tenpo) is an early Taishō era merchant townhouse facing south onto the old highway at Kamimachi in Ryūgasaki, Ibaraki Prefecture, and it was listed as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property in the buildings category on 17 February 2004. The frontage measures 5 ken (about 9.1 metres) and the depth 3 ken (about 5.5 metres). The roof is a Kirizuma-zukuri gable clad in Sangawara-buki pantiles, set Hirairi so that the long slope, rather than the gable end, faces the street. The building is mostly two storeys of timber frame with a single-storey portion, and the built area comes to 210 square metres.
A Geya, a lean-to canopy 5 shaku deep (about 1.5 metres), runs across the front. Seen from the road, the tiles of the lean-to and the tiles of the upper roof stack into two overlapping bands, and the shop entrance sits in the deep shadow they cast. That horizontal line catches the 5 ken wall above it, which is why the façade reads as broad rather than tall.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs national database places the construction date in the early Taishō era, somewhere between 1912 and 1925. The roof is tiled for the most part, with sheet metal over one section.
Why It Was Listed, and the Frame Behind the Listing
The Former Onose Family Residence Store qualified under the criterion for a Registered Tangible Cultural Property that covers buildings serving as a model of design. Its registration number is 08-0112. On the same day, 17 February 2004, the Former Onose Family Main House was listed separately as 08-0113: a single-storey timber building of 65 square metres, dated to the early Meiji era, standing north of the rear entrance hall of the store. The pair were assessed together as one merchant compound.
The Agency's own description reaches for the word gōchoku, meaning rigid and unyielding, to characterise the frame. On the shop floor stands a daikoku-bashira, the principal post, 1 shaku 2 sun square, which is about 36 centimetres. Above it runs a nedatenjō, a ceiling built up from exposed joists, assembled here from members 3 shaku deep and 1 shaku wide. A shop room in a Machiya had to carry stacked goods, constant foot traffic and the weight of the floor above. The thickness of the timber is the measure of what was asked of it.
The lean-to is framed with an ebi-kōryō, a curved beam used to link two lines of posts standing at different heights. It is a member associated with temple and shrine carpentry. Finding one in the Geya of a townhouse indicates a carpenter working well above the ordinary standard for the type.
What to Look For from the Street
Because the Former Onose Family Residence Store remains in use as a private property, everything worth studying is on the outside. Start with the proportions of the front. A frontage of 5 ken against a depth of 3 ken gives a box nearly 1.7 times wider than it is deep, and a shallow gable roof sits over it. Compare that with a Tsumairi townhouse, which turns its gable end to the road: here the broad plane of the roof faces the passer-by, and the mass of it registers immediately.
Then look under the eaves. The curved ebi-kōryō carrying the Geya rewards attention to how the canopy meets the wall, and the junction between the rippling pantile surface below and the plastered second storey above is one of the quiet pleasures of the building.
Kamimachi, where the Former Onose Family Residence Store stands, was the commercial core of the old town of Ryūgasaki. Yasaka Shrine, whose main hall is a municipally designated cultural property, sits in the same district. Walking the street, you can still read the old plot pattern in the wide frontages of the merchant lots.
Visiting and Access
The building is owned by Toyo Real Estate Co., Ltd., and the interior is not open to the public. The Ryūgasaki municipal cultural properties page lists no opening hours and no admission fee. Viewing is limited to the exterior, from the highway the building faces. Please stay off the property itself and look from the footpath or the far side of the road.
Photographing the exterior from public ground is unrestricted. Avoid pointing a camera into the grounds or the interior. People live here.
By train, take the JR Jōban Line to Ryūgasaki-shi Station, change to the Kantō Railway Ryūgasaki Line, and ride about 7 minutes to the terminus at Ryūgasaki Station. From there it is about 15 minutes on foot to the east, roughly 1 kilometre. For questions about the building or any future opening, contact the Culture and Lifelong Learning Division of the Ryūgasaki Board of Education on 0297-64-1111.
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Q&A
- Can you go inside the Former Onose Family Residence Store?
- No. The interior is closed. The building is owned by Toyo Real Estate Co., Ltd., and the city of Ryūgasaki publishes no visiting information for it. Only the exterior, facing the old highway, can be seen.
- How do I get to the Former Onose Family Residence Store from the nearest station?
- Take the JR Jōban Line to Ryūgasaki-shi Station, change to the Kantō Railway Ryūgasaki Line for about 7 minutes, and get off at the terminus, Ryūgasaki Station. The building is about 15 minutes east on foot, roughly 1 kilometre.
- When was the Former Onose Family Residence Store built and registered?
- It dates from the early Taishō era, which the Agency for Cultural Affairs database places between 1912 and 1925. It became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in the buildings category on 17 February 2004, under registration number 08-0112.
- Is photography allowed at the Former Onose Family Residence Store?
- Photographing the exterior from public ground is fine. Do not enter the grounds and do not photograph the interior.
- What is the Former Onose Family Main House, and how is it related?
- It is a single-storey timber building of 65 square metres dating from the early Meiji era, standing north of the rear entrance hall of the store. It was listed on the same day as a separate item, number 08-0113.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Onose Family Residence Store |
|---|---|
| Location | 4252 Ryugasaki, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered on 17 February 2004 (Heisei 16) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Built area 210 square metres; 5 ken frontage, 3 ken depth |
| Owner | Toyo Real Estate Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Interior closed; exterior viewable from the road |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Former Onose Family Residence Store
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003776
- Cultural Heritage Online: Former Onose Family Residence Store
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/179996
- City of Ryugasaki: Former Onose Family Residence Store and Main House
- https://www.city.ryugasaki.ibaraki.jp/kanko/bunka/bunkazai/2013081500541.html
- Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education: Former Onose Family Residence Store and One Other
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-registered-6250/
- City of Ryugasaki: Main Hall of Yasaka Shrine
- https://www.city.ryugasaki.ibaraki.jp/kanko/bunka/bunkazai/2013081500589.html
Last verified: 2026.09.08