Kimura Family Residence (Kotabe Flower Shop) Misegura: Makabe's Earliest Shop-Storehouse After the Great Fire
The Kimura Family Residence (Kotabe Flower Shop) Misegura (木村家住宅（小田部生花店）見世蔵) is a two-story earthen-walled shop building on the west side of Gojinya-mae-dori in the Makabe district of Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture, built before 1853 in the closing decades of the Edo period and listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 18 October 2000.
Makabe burned in the third month of 1837. The town that rose afterwards did not look like the one that had stood before. Thatch and boarded roofs gave way to Dozo-zukuri: a timber frame packed out with thick layers of clay, then finished in white Shikkui plaster. Sakuragawa City's own walking guide to the district identifies the Kimura shop as the earliest of the post-fire shop-storehouses in Makabe, which makes this modest frontage the place where the change begins.
The Kimura family had been dealing in sake on this plot since the middle of the Edo period. In 1872 they opened Makabe's postal agency, and four generations went on to serve as the town's postmasters. From 1898 they ran the office out of the former Fiftieth Bank building a short walk up the street. Grain broking, raw silk, and a share in founding the Makabe Bank fill out the rest of the family ledger.
The building runs five bays along the street and two and a half bays deep, with a lean-to Geya eave thrown out over the shopfront at ground level. The roof is gabled and entered from the long side. Inside, the ground floor holds an earth-floored Doma and a 10-mat Zashiki; a florist, Kotabe Seikaten, traded out of the doma for years, and its name went into the official register along with the family's. Building area is 66 square meters.
Why the Kimura Family Residence Misegura Was Registered
Registration came on 18 October 2000, under register number 08-0038, on the ground that the building is a model of its type. The wording repays care: a Registered Tangible Cultural Property is registered, not designated. Registration is the lighter-touch scheme introduced in 1996 for buildings still in daily use, which is exactly what this one was.
Two things make the case. The first is evidence. The Kimura family kept a plan of the whole property, and the positions and room layouts drawn on it match what stands on the site today. That correspondence is how the rebuilding after the 1837 fire is dated to no later than 1853, and it is a rarer thing to have than the building itself.
The second is what the building shows about its moment. The eaves over the upper story are held low, and the plastered front wall carries only a single small opening toward its northern end. Later merchants in Makabe built taller, opened up their second floors, and hung decorated ridge ends. The Kimura shop predates all of that, so it reads as a plainer, heavier thing than its neighbours, and that plainness is the historical information.
Makabe as a whole was selected as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings on 29 June 2010, covering roughly 17.6 hectares. More than 100 buildings in the town carry individual registration. The Kimura Family Residence, sitting in Takajomachi at the core of the district, was among the earlier ones onto the list.
What to Look For on the Street Front
Stand on the far side of Gojinya-mae-dori and take in the whole silhouette before looking at details. The Kimura Family Residence Misegura sits low. Its ridge is close to the ground compared with the Meiji and Taisho shops further along the street, and the wall plane above the shopfront reads as an almost unbroken field of plaster.
Then find the window. There is one small opening in that upper wall, set toward the north end rather than centred, and it is the only thing interrupting the surface. Fireproofing drove the decision. Every opening is a place fire can enter, so a builder in Makabe at this date cut as few as he could get away with and put the one he needed where it was least exposed.
Look next at the lean-to eave over the ground floor. It shelters the shop counter and the customers standing at it, and it is the element that turns a storehouse into a shop.
Finally, look past the frontage into the plot. The ridge of the main house runs at right angles behind this one and joins it toward the rear on the north side, so the two buildings form an L in plan. Immediately to the south stands the family's Yakuimon gate. All three are separately registered, and seeing them together in one glance is the point of standing here.
Visiting the Kimura Family Residence Misegura
The Kimura Family Residence (Kotabe Flower Shop) Misegura is viewed from the street. Sakuragawa City, which now owns the property, asks visitors to enjoy the registered buildings of Makabe from outside and not to enter private grounds; the interiors are not open on a regular basis. There is no admission charge, no ticket office, and no set hours, and the frontage can be seen at any time of day.
Photography from the public street is unrestricted. To find out about interior access on a particular date, ask the Sakuragawa City commerce and tourism section on 0296-55-1159 before you travel.
The busiest weeks are the Makabe Hina Matsuri, held annually from 4 February to 3 March, when houses and shops along these streets put out doll displays and the town centre fills with visitors. Traffic is restricted on some days during the period, so check current arrangements if you are driving.
Makabe has no railway station. From Tokyo, take the Tsukuba Express to Tsukuba Station, then the Tsukuba City "Tsukubus" North Shuttle from Tsukuba Center to Tsukubasanguchi, about 50 minutes, and change to the Sakuragawa City bus for about 20 minutes. Coming by JR, Iwase Station on the Mito Line is about 20 minutes from Makabe by the same city bus. Drivers leave the Kita-Kanto Expressway at Sakuragawa-Chikusei Interchange and follow National Route 50 and Prefectural Route 41. The Takajomachi car park is the closest, a few minutes on foot, and charges a fee during the doll festival.
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Q&A
- Can visitors go inside the Kimura Family Residence (Kotabe Flower Shop) Misegura?
- No. The interior is not open on a regular basis, and Sakuragawa City asks that the registered buildings of Makabe be viewed from the street without entering the grounds. The exterior is fully visible from Gojinya-mae-dori.
- Is there an admission fee or an opening time for the Kimura Family Residence Misegura?
- Neither. The building stands directly on a public street, so there is nothing to pay and no gate to arrive before. For confirmation of any special opening, contact the Sakuragawa City commerce and tourism section on 0296-55-1159.
- When was the Kimura Family Residence Misegura built, and why does the year 1837 matter?
- A fire destroyed the Kimura house in the third month of 1837, and the present shop was rebuilt before 1853. The fire is the reason Makabe shifted from thatched buildings to clay-walled ones, and this shop is recorded as the earliest of the town's post-fire shop-storehouses.
- How do I reach the Kimura Family Residence Misegura without a car?
- Makabe has no station. From Tsukuba Station on the Tsukuba Express, ride the Tsukubus North Shuttle to Tsukubasanguchi, about 50 minutes, then change to the Sakuragawa City bus for about 20 minutes. From Iwase Station on the JR Mito Line the city bus takes about 20 minutes.
- Can I take photographs of the Kimura Family Residence Misegura?
- Yes, from the public street. Late afternoon light rakes across the plastered upper wall and shows the texture of the surface, which flat midday light tends to erase.
Basic Information
| Name | Kimura Family Residence (Kotabe Flower Shop) Misegura |
|---|---|
| Location | 217-1 Takajomachi, Makabe, Makabecho, Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), register number 08-0038 |
| Year Designated | Registered on 18 October 2000 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Dozo-zukuri, 2 stories, tile roof, building area 66 square meters |
| Owner | Sakuragawa City |
| Public Access | Exterior viewable from the street at any time; interior not open on a regular basis; no admission charge |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Kimura Family Residence (Kotabe Flower Shop) Misegura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00001865
- Sakuragawa City — Former Kimura Family Residence
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/education/bunkazai/city_bunkazai/cityregi_bunkazai/page008246.html
- Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education — Kimura Family Residence (Kotabe Flower Shop) Misegura and one other building
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-registered-6545/
- Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education — Sakuragawa City Makabe Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-8557/
- Sakuragawa City — Walking Makabe (PDF)
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/data/doc/1487569963_doc_23_1.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.06