The storehouse on the corner
Sakacho Honten Side Storehouse, also known as the Former Koga Castle Northwest Storehouse, is a 2-storey earthen-walled storehouse in Chuo-cho, Koga City, Ibaraki Prefecture, dated to 1863 and listed on 26 September 2000 as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property.
It occupies the corner where two streets cross, at the front edge of the Sakacho compound. Its ridge runs at a right angle to that of the shop storehouse beside it, so the two buildings turn different faces to the two streets. Walls are Dozo-zukuri finished in white Shikkui plaster; the roof is Kirizuma-zukuri laid with Sangawara-buki tiles. Koga City records the building as 7.27 metres along the ridge and 4.54 metres across, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs gives a footprint of 60 square meters.
The name carries its origin. Inui means the northwest quarter of the compass, and in castle nomenclature it identified the storehouse standing in that corner of the grounds. Sakacho Honten Side Storehouse is held to be that building, taken down and re-erected here after Koga Castle was dismantled and sold off following the castle abolition order of 1873.
What the dated beam supports
Most storehouses of this age are dated by inference. This one is not. A large transverse beam inside Sakacho Honten Side Storehouse carries an ink inscription giving Bunkyu 3, the water-boar year, on an auspicious day of the fifth month, which fixes the timber at 1863. Koga City treats that writing as the primary evidence for the building's date.
The two dates are the interesting part. Timber cut and framed in 1863 belongs to the last decade of the Tokugawa order, when Koga Castle was still a working castle. The move came about ten years later, after the abolition order. What survives on this corner is therefore castle carpentry, put up inside the walls and afterwards bought and reassembled by a merchant family in the town below.
That history explains the criterion applied at registration. Sakacho Honten Side Storehouse was entered as number 08-0030 under the standard for buildings that would not be easy to reproduce, and the official commentary calls it, together with the shop storehouse, one of the few remaining traces of Koga Castle.
What to notice from the crossing
Stand back at the crossroads before going in. From here Sakacho Honten Side Storehouse shows its gable end to the street, a plain triangle of white plaster above a broad wall, while the shop storehouse next to it presents a long flank. The two forms read as one composition only from this angle, and photographs taken from the doorway miss it entirely.
The plaster is worth studying at close range. Shikkui is lime plaster built up in coats over an earthen core, and on a storehouse it is both fireproofing and finish. Look at how the surface meets the eaves and how it wraps the corner: the thickness of the wall shows in the reveal at every opening.
Roof tiles carry across from the neighbouring buildings, which is what makes the compound hold together visually despite the different construction dates. The ridge of Sakacho Honten Side Storehouse crossing that of the shop storehouse at a right angle is the one break in the pattern, and it is deliberate: a corner plot has two streets to answer to.
Planning a visit
Sakacho Honten Side Storehouse belongs to the Koga no Oyasumidokoro Sakacho complex, which opens 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closes over the New Year period. Admission to the site is free. The telephone number is 0280-22-2781.
The operator's published guide to the buildings does not assign a public function to this storehouse, unlike the shop, the house, the document storehouse and the stone storehouse, so its interior is not part of the ordinary visitor route. The exterior is fully visible from the public street on two sides, which is where the building is best appreciated in any case.
From JR Koga Station on the Utsunomiya Line the walk is about 9 minutes. By car it is 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. The street elevations may be photographed from the pavement; ask at the reception desk before photographing anywhere inside the compound.
Q&A
- Can the interior of Sakacho Honten Side Storehouse be visited?
- The operator's guide gives it no public function, so the interior is not on the normal visitor route. The exterior can be seen freely from the two streets that meet at its corner.
- Why is Sakacho Honten Side Storehouse also called the Former Koga Castle Northwest Storehouse?
- Inui denotes the northwest quarter of the compass, and the building is held to have stood in that corner of Koga Castle before being moved here after the castle was dismantled.
- How is the age of Sakacho Honten Side Storehouse known?
- An ink inscription on a large transverse beam records Bunkyu 3, corresponding to 1863. Koga City regards it as the evidence for the construction date.
- How large is Sakacho Honten Side Storehouse?
- Koga City records 7.27 metres along the ridge and 4.54 metres across, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs gives a footprint of 60 square meters over 2 storeys.
- What are the opening hours and access for Sakacho Honten Side Storehouse?
- The site opens 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closes over the New Year period and charges no admission. It is about 9 minutes on foot from JR Koga Station.
Basic Information
| Name | Sakacho Honten Side Storehouse (Former Koga Castle Northwest 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, 7.27 metres by 4.54 metres, building footprint 60 square meters |
| Owner | Private individual (as recorded by the Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education) |
| Public Access | Exterior visible from the street at the Koga no Oyasumidokoro Sakacho complex, open 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 Sodegura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00001848
- Cultural Heritage Online: Sakacho Honten Sodegura
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/137618
- Koga City: Sakacho Honten Sodegura, Former Koga Castle Inuigura
- https://www.city.ibaraki-koga.lg.jp/soshiki/bunka/15/siteitourokubunnkazai/kogabunkazaikennzoubutu/2398.html
- 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: access and hours
- https://sakacho.com/access
Last verified: 2026.09.07