A white storehouse turned end-on to the yard
The Sakurai Family Residence West Storehouse (桜井家住宅西蔵, Sakurai-ke Jūtaku Nishigura) is a plastered storehouse in Makabe, Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture, built in the middle of the Meiji era between 1868 and 1911, and listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 17 February 2004.
It occupies the ground north of the main house, its ridge running north to south. The structure is Dozo-zukuri on 2 floors under a Kirizuma-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles, and the door sits in the gable end rather than under the eaves, the arrangement called Tsumairi. It measures 3 ken by 2 ken, with a building area of 45 square meters.
White is the first thing anyone notices. The exterior carries a coat of white Shikkui lime plaster, and three of the four faces are then covered with sasarako-shitami boarding, a variety of Shitami-itabari. Only the south gable, the face with the door, is left as bare plaster.
On the upper floor two windows open, one on the south and one toward the north end of the east wall. Each has a small hood above it and a pair of iron doors that swing outward.
Why the Sakurai Family Residence West Storehouse is on the register
Registration number 08-0117. The criterion recorded is that the building would be difficult to reproduce, which is also the ground given for the main house in front of it and for the new storehouse to the east.
The reasoning is easier to appreciate once you know what a plastered storehouse costs. Walls of this kind are built up in layers of earth over a timber armature and finished in lime, each coat left to dry before the next, and the iron shutters and hooded openings of the Sakurai Family Residence West Storehouse were made by hand for these particular apertures. The trade that produced them survives, but not at the scale that once furnished a whole town.
That town is still legible. About 17.6 hectares of it were selected as an Important Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings in 2010, and the count of Registered Tangible Cultural Property buildings across Makabe comes to roughly 100.
The strength of a storehouse is against fire rather than against shaking. When the earthquake of 2011 struck, Makabe became the most heavily damaged of all the preservation districts in Japan, with damage extending to more than 90 percent of the traditional buildings, and the repair program that followed has run for years.
Reading a storehouse from the outside
The Sakurai Family Residence West Storehouse rewards a comparison rather than a single look. Its neighbor to the east, the new storehouse, is finished in black plaster and turns its long side outward. This one is white and presents its gable. Two storehouses on one plot, built a generation apart, disagree about both color and orientation.
The boarding is the practical half of the story. Lime plaster sheds rain badly over time, so the faces most exposed to weather were sheathed in timber, and the one face kept clear of boards is the face with the door. What looks like a design choice began as a maintenance schedule.
Then look up at the windows. The iron leaves on the upper openings are not ornament. Closed, they seal an opening that would otherwise let embers into a room holding everything the household could not afford to lose.
Visiting the Sakurai Family Residence West Storehouse
The Sakurai Family Residence West Storehouse stands inside a private plot and is not open. Sakuragawa City asks that the registered buildings be enjoyed from outside while walking, without entering grounds or buildings. Because this storehouse sits behind the main house, the view from the street is partial, and the roof and upper walls are what usually appear above the buildings in front.
Photography from the public road is unrestricted, with the ordinary courtesies owed to an occupied property.
Access is by bus. The Tsukubus northern shuttle links Tsukuba Station on the Tsukuba Express with Tsukubasan-guchi in about 50 minutes, and the Sakuragawa city bus Yamazakura GO continues from there in about 20 minutes. From Iwase Station on the JR Mito Line the same service takes roughly 20 to 35 minutes. Shimo-juku and Kami-juku are the stops closest to the historic quarter.
Drivers can park at the municipal Makabe Takajōmachi car park, 279-1 Makabe, Makabe-cho, open for entry and exit from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. It is free for most of the year, charging only across the Makabe Hina Matsuri, usually 4 February to 3 March, and the Makabe Gion Festival from 23 to 26 July.
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Q&A
- Is the Sakurai Family Residence West Storehouse open to visitors?
- No. It stands on private ground and is closed. Sakuragawa City asks visitors to view the registered buildings from outside and not to enter the site.
- When was the Sakurai Family Residence West Storehouse built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs places it in the middle of the Meiji era, within the span from 1868 to 1911.
- How does the Sakurai Family Residence West Storehouse differ from the new storehouse next to it?
- This one is finished in white plaster and entered through its gable end. The new storehouse to the east is coated in black plaster and entered on its long side, and it is the later of the two.
- Can the Sakurai Family Residence West Storehouse be seen from the street?
- Only partly. It stands behind the main house, so the roof and the upper part of the walls are the portion that shows above the buildings along the street.
- How do you get to the Sakurai Family Residence West Storehouse?
- By bus. From Tsukuba Station take the Tsukubus northern shuttle to Tsukubasan-guchi, about 50 minutes, then Yamazakura GO for about 20 minutes. From Iwase Station on the JR Mito Line, Yamazakura GO takes roughly 20 to 35 minutes. Alight at Shimo-juku or Kami-juku.
Basic Information
| Name | Sakurai Family Residence West Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 409 Makabe, Makabe-cho, Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2004 (Heisei 16) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 3 ken by 2 ken, 2-story storehouse, building area 45 square meters |
| Owner | Private individual (no owner name recorded in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database) |
| Public Access | Not open to the public. Partial exterior view from the street only |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Sakurai Family Residence West Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003781
- Sakuragawa City: Makabe Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/education/bunkazai/city_bunkazai/kuni_bunkazai/page003423.html
- Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education: Makabe Preservation District, Sakuragawa City
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-8557/
- Sakuragawa City: Walking Makabe, map of registered cultural properties (PDF)
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/data/doc/1487569963_doc_23_1.pdf
- Sakuragawa City: Frequently asked questions on tourism, parking in Makabe
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/faq.php?mode=detail&lc=3&c=26&code=112
- Sakuragawa City: Yamazakura GO city bus timetable (PDF)
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/data/doc/1743411093_doc_23_0.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.07