A storehouse dated 1858
Sakacho Honten Document Storehouse, also recorded as the Former Pawn Storehouse, is a 2-storey earthen-walled storehouse in Chuo-cho, Koga City, Ibaraki Prefecture, built in 1858 and listed on 26 September 2000 as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property.
It stands directly behind the main house, in the middle stretch of the Sakacho property. The roof is Kirizuma-zukuri under Sangawara-buki tiles, and the walls are Dozo-zukuri finished in white Shikkui with sections worked in black plaster. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a footprint of 54 square meters.
Its second name records an earlier function. A shichigura was the strongroom of a pawnbroking business, the place where goods pledged against a loan were kept until they were redeemed. The Sato household worked as money changers for generations before moving into the wholesale sake trade, and lending against pledged goods sat alongside that business.
The date is not an estimate. An ink inscription inside gives Ansei 5, corresponding to 1858, and the Agency treats the construction year as established because of it.
The relief-work tradition
What the official record adds about Sakacho Honten Document Storehouse is a piece of social history rather than architecture. It is said to have been put up as otasuke-bushin, a building project undertaken to give wages and work to people in hardship.
The practice was a recognised one in Edo-period towns. A household with means would commission construction it did not urgently need, timing the work so that carpenters, plasterers and labourers had employment when other work had dried up. The building was real, the wages were the point.
The Agency records this as tradition rather than as documented fact, using the phrasing reserved for what is handed down. No contemporary paper has been published that confirms the motive, so the claim rests on family memory. Registration itself was granted on architectural grounds, under the criterion for buildings that set a standard of form, as number 08-0032.
Black plaster in a white wall
Nearly every storehouse in this compound is white. Sakacho Honten Document Storehouse is the one that is not entirely so, and the Agency's description picks the detail out specifically: white Shikkui over most of the surface, with parts finished in black.
Black plaster is made by working soot or pigment into the final lime coat and then burnishing it, and it costs more in labour than a plain white finish. Plasterers applied it where a wall took the worst of the weather, and where an owner wanted the eye held. Walk round the building and note which parts are dark. The distribution tells you something about both intentions at once.
The other thing to look at is thickness. Storehouse walls of this kind were built up in layers over a timber frame until they were substantial enough to keep out fire, and the depth shows at every window and door opening. For a building whose original job was holding other people's possessions in trust, that mass was the whole proposition.
Inside the exhibition room
Sakacho Honten Document Storehouse is now the exhibition room of the Koga no Oyasumidokoro Sakacho complex. The operator states that the conversion kept the original form of the storehouse as far as possible, and the displays cover the history of Koga, so the room explains the town while the shell around it explains how such rooms were built.
This is the interior on the site that most rewards going in. The main house has been fitted out for daily use and the stone storehouse is a hired hall, but here the walls and roof are close at hand and the space is kept open through the day.
The complex opens 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closes over the New Year period. Admission is free. The telephone number is 0280-22-2781. From JR Koga Station on the Utsunomiya Line the walk is about 9 minutes; by car allow roughly 30 minutes from the Kuki or Tatebayashi interchanges on the Tohoku Expressway, or about 35 minutes from Sakai-Koga on the Ken-O Expressway. Three car parks may be used: the Sakacho car park, Chuo-cho Hiroba and the Koga Literature Museum.
No photography rule is published. Exhibition content may be subject to its own restrictions, so ask at the reception desk before photographing inside.
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Q&A
- Can I go inside Sakacho Honten Document Storehouse?
- Yes. It houses the exhibition room of the Sakacho complex and is open through normal opening hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with no admission charge.
- Why is Sakacho Honten Document Storehouse also called the Former Pawn Storehouse?
- A shichigura was the strongroom of a pawnbroking business, holding goods pledged against loans. The household ran money-changing and lending before the sake trade.
- When was Sakacho Honten Document Storehouse built?
- In 1858. An ink inscription inside records Ansei 5, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs regards the construction year as established because of it.
- What is otasuke-bushin, and how does it relate to Sakacho Honten Document Storehouse?
- It refers to building work commissioned to provide wages to people in hardship. The Agency records this as the tradition behind the storehouse, without documentary confirmation.
- How do I reach Sakacho Honten Document Storehouse?
- About 9 minutes on foot from JR Koga Station. By car, roughly 30 minutes from the Kuki or Tatebayashi interchanges, or about 35 minutes from Sakai-Koga, with 3 car parks nearby.
Basic Information
| Name | Sakacho Honten Document Storehouse (Former Pawn Storehouse) |
|---|---|
| Location | 3-1-39 Chuo-cho, Koga City, Ibaraki Prefecture (recorded in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database as 3-5742 and 5743 Chuo-cho and others) |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2000 (Heisei 12) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Earthen-walled construction, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building footprint 54 square meters |
| Owner | Private individual (as recorded by the Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education) |
| Public Access | Open as the exhibition room of the Koga no Oyasumidokoro Sakacho complex, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed over the New Year period, admission free |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Sakacho Honten Bunkogura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00001850
- Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education: Sakacho Honten Misegura and five other buildings
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-registered-6530/
- Koga no Oyasumidokoro Sakacho, official site: general guide
- https://sakacho.com/info
- Koga no Oyasumidokoro Sakacho, official site: access and hours
- https://sakacho.com/access
Last verified: 2026.09.07