The storehouse at the back of the plot
Sakacho Honten Middle Storehouse is a 2-storey earthen-walled storehouse in Chuo-cho, Koga City, Ibaraki Prefecture, assigned to the middle Edo period and listed on 26 September 2000 as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property.
It sits at the deepest point of the Sakacho property, wedged between the document storehouse on one side and the long stone storehouse on the other. Walls are Dozo-zukuri in white Shikkui; the roof is Kirizuma-zukuri under Sangawara-buki tiles. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a footprint of 52 square meters, the smallest of the six registered buildings here.
Position and size go together. Merchant plots in castle towns were narrow at the street and long behind, and what went furthest back was what needed neither display nor easy access. Sakacho Honten Middle Storehouse is the building the street was never meant to see.
A building the record cannot date
The Agency for Cultural Affairs is unusually frank about Sakacho Honten Middle Storehouse: the construction date is not clear. There is no dated ink inscription on a beam, as there is in two of its neighbours, and no document has been produced that fixes the year. What the record carries instead is the family tradition that this is the oldest building on the plot, and a bracketed range for the middle Edo period, 1661 to 1750.
If that tradition holds, the storehouse predates the sake trade entirely. The Sato household were money changers first, turning to wholesale sake only at the 9th generation, and the official commentary reads this building as a survivor from the money-changing years. Registration was granted under the criterion for buildings that set a standard of form, as number 08-0033.
An undated building is not a weaker one. The registration system works on form and technique as much as on documented years, and the plain white box at the back of this yard is the reference point against which the dated storehouses in front of it can be read.
Looking up into the roof
The interior of Sakacho Honten Middle Storehouse has been altered twice over, and the sequence is part of the story. The Agency's description, written for the 2000 registration, notes that the inside had been refitted with equipment connected to sake production. The operator's current guide to the buildings gives it a different function again: it now holds the restrooms for the complex, and the guide points visitors to look up, where the ceiling and roof structure remain as they were built.
That upward view is the reason to step inside. Storehouse roofs were framed heavily, since the walls had to carry weight and resist fire, and the timbers above your head are the part of this building least touched by two centuries of changing use.
Outside, walk the gap between Sakacho Honten Middle Storehouse and the stone storehouse next to it. Plaster on one side, cut Oya stone on the other, both under the same tiles. The pairing compresses about two hundred years of building practice into a passage a few paces wide.
Getting there
Sakacho Honten Middle Storehouse is reached by walking through the Koga no Oyasumidokoro Sakacho complex from the street entrance, past the shop and the main house, to the far end of the yard. The site opens 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closes over the New Year period, and charges no admission. The telephone number is 0280-22-2781.
Because the building now houses the restrooms, it is one of the few interiors on the plot that is reliably open during opening hours rather than dependent on bookings.
From JR Koga Station on the Utsunomiya Line allow about 9 minutes on foot. Drivers need 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. There are 3 car parks: the Sakacho car park, Chuo-cho Hiroba and the Koga Literature Museum.
No photography rule is published for the site. Given the building's present function, restrict any photography here to the roof structure and the exterior, and ask at the reception desk if in doubt.
Q&A
- How old is Sakacho Honten Middle Storehouse?
- The exact year is not established. The Agency for Cultural Affairs assigns it to the middle Edo period, between 1661 and 1750, and records the tradition that it is the oldest building on the plot.
- What is Sakacho Honten Middle Storehouse used for today?
- The operator's guide lists it as holding the restrooms for the complex, and invites visitors to look up at the original ceiling and roof structure. At the time of registration it held equipment connected to sake production.
- Where in the compound is Sakacho Honten Middle Storehouse?
- At the deepest point of the plot, between the document storehouse and the stone storehouse. Walk in from the street entrance and continue past the main house to the far end of the yard.
- Why was Sakacho Honten Middle Storehouse registered?
- It was entered as number 08-0033 under the criterion for buildings that set a standard of form, and the commentary connects it to the years when the household worked as money changers.
- What are the opening hours and access for Sakacho Honten Middle Storehouse?
- The site opens 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closes over the New Year period, with free admission. It is about 9 minutes on foot from JR Koga Station.
Basic Information
| Name | Sakacho Honten Middle 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 52 square meters |
| Owner | Private individual (as recorded by the Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education) |
| Public Access | Open as part 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 Nakagura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00001851
- 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