What the Former Tonoike Kimono Store Is
The Former Tonoike Kimono Store (旧外池呉服店店舗, Kyū Tonoike Gofukuten Tenpo) is a two-storey earthen-walled shop building in the centre of Daigo Town, Kuji District, Ibaraki Prefecture, built in 1896 and entered on the national list as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2016. It faces west onto the street and covers 103 square metres under a tiled roof.
Buildings of this type are called misegura, a shop housed inside the fireproof shell of a Dozo-zukuri storehouse. In merchant streets where one spark could take the whole block, thick earthen walls were the last defence for stock and ledgers. The division of labour here is the standard one: selling on the ground floor, a matted Zashiki reception room above.
Above the plinth, the street front and the upper gable are finished in black Shikkui lime plaster. Most storehouses of this kind were left white. Black takes more coats and more patience, and it gives the wall a density that white does not. On this stretch of street, the Former Tonoike Kimono Store is the one building that reads as a dark mass.
Why It Was Registered
The Former Tonoike Kimono Store qualifies under the criterion for buildings that contribute to the historic character of the national landscape. It was listed less for rarity than for what it does to the view along the street.
The plasterer's work sits at the centre of that judgement. Four openings pierce the upper storey on the street front, each closed by a pair of thick inward-swinging shutters. Their edges carry kakekonuri, a technique in which the meeting faces of shutter and frame are built up in matching stepped layers so that no gap remains. Shut them and neither smoke nor flame can pass. Every step has to be trowelled to the millimetre, and a plasterer's skill shows up immediately in the result.
The frame repeats the point. On the ground floor stand the daikoku-bashira and ebisu-bashira, the two principal posts, each measuring 1 shaku 2 sun, about 36 centimetres square. That is heavy timber for a townhouse, sized to carry a reception room above and the weight of thick mud walls all round.
Complete Meiji-period drapery shopfronts that survive with both their finish and their structure intact are not common. That completeness is what put the building on the register.
What to Look For
Cross to the far side of the road first and take in the Former Tonoike Kimono Store whole. From there you can read how the black plaster wall meets the tiled roof above it. The plinth is deliberately left out of the black finish, because splashback from the road wears that band fastest and a different treatment was the practical answer.
Then move up to the four openings on the first floor. Closed, the shutters sit almost flush and the wall reads as continuous. Open, they show their thickness, and only then do you grasp how much material stands between a fire in the street and the goods inside.
There is another shuttered opening on the north flank at ground level. Most people photograph the front and walk on, so it is worth stepping round the side of the building.
Inside, you can stand next to those two big posts and judge their bulk. The building now trades as a lacquerware shop, and the fittings have been kept low and sparse so the structure stays visible. Bowls set against a black plaster wall make a quiet point: lacquer is a material this region gives to buildings and to tableware alike.
Visiting and Access
The Former Tonoike Kimono Store is privately owned, but it operates as a lacquerware shop called Kijian, so you can go inside on trading days. It opens Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Those days shift around the maker's production schedule and occasional events, so check the operator's official site before travelling any distance.
Because this is a working shop, ask the staff before photographing the interior or the stock. Exterior shots from the public road need no permission.
The building is about a 6-minute walk from Daigo Station on the JR Suigun Line, along the street that runs east from the station forecourt. The Former Higuchi Hospital Inpatient Building, a wooden clinic of 1955, stands on the same street roughly 150 metres before you reach the Former Tonoike Kimono Store, with the former Daigo Bank head office of 1917 in between.
Kijian sells Yamizo lacquerware made with Daigo urushi. Ibaraki is Japan's second-largest producer of raw lacquer after Iwate, and nearly all of it comes from the hills around this town. The sap is valued for its clarity and used to finish Wajima and Shunkei wares, and a lacquer tree must grow for roughly 10 years before it can be tapped at all. A Meiji drapery storehouse has become the place where that local material is explained.
Q&A
- Can you go inside the Former Tonoike Kimono Store?
- Yes. The building trades as a lacquerware shop called Kijian, and visitors can enter on trading days. It opens Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Opening days can change, so check the operator's official site before you visit.
- How do I get to the Former Tonoike Kimono Store from the nearest station?
- It is about a 6-minute walk from Daigo Station on the JR Suigun Line. Follow the street running east from the station forecourt and look for a two-storey building with dark walls facing west onto the road. Most visitors reach Daigo Station by the Suigun Line from Mito.
- When was the Former Tonoike Kimono Store built and registered?
- It was built in 1896 and entered on the national register of tangible cultural properties on 25 February 2016. The listing covers 1 building of earthen storehouse construction, 2 storeys, with a floor area of 103 square metres.
- What is the most notable feature of the Former Tonoike Kimono Store?
- The four shuttered openings across the first floor of the street front, and the kakekonuri plasterwork on their edges, in which shutter and frame are built up in matching steps so that no gap remains when closed. The black lime plaster covering the outer walls and the two principal posts of 1 shaku 2 sun, about 36 centimetres, are also worth close attention.
- Is photography allowed at the Former Tonoike Kimono Store?
- Exterior photography from the public road is unrestricted. The interior is a working shop, so please ask the staff before photographing the space or the goods on display.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Tonoike Kimono Store |
|---|---|
| Location | 624 and 625 (merged), Kanamachi Higashigawa, Oaza Daigo, Daigo Town, Kuji District, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2016 (Heisei 28) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 103 square metres; earthen storehouse construction, 2 storeys, tiled roof |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | Open as the Kijian lacquerware shop (Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Former Tonoike Kimono Store
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010908
- Daigo Town: Former Tonoike Kimono Store (Kijian)
- https://www.town.daigo.ibaraki.jp/page/page008100.html
- Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education, Cultural Properties of Ibaraki: Former Tonoike Kimono Store
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-registered-5977/
- Wearwoodwork Co., Ltd.: Guide to Kijian, Daigo Urushi Yamizo Lacquerware
- https://tsujitohru.jp/kijian/
- Daigo Town: Introduction to Daigo Lacquer
- https://www.town.daigo.ibaraki.jp/page/page006809.html
Last verified: 2026.09.08