A Plastered Shopfront on the Kujiragaoka Ridge
Surugaya Miyata Bookstore Store and Main House (駿河屋宮田書店店舗兼主屋, Surugaya Miyata Shoten Tenpo-ken-Shuoku) is a merchant townhouse in Uchihori-cho, Hitachiota City, Ibaraki Prefecture, built in 1810 and entered on the national list of Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 7, 2014.
The building faces east onto the old highway that runs along Kujiragaoka, a narrow ridge about 38 meters above sea level carrying the old centre of Hitachiota. The name means whale hill, after the swell of the ground. Ota Castle stood here from the late Heian period and later became the seat of the Satake clan. In the Edo period the ridge collected goods moving along the road between Mito and Tanakura, wholesale merchants took the street frontage, and the lots were cut narrow at the front and deep at the back. That pattern still governs how the Miyata property is arranged.
The family register kept at their temple records that they opened a scale-maker's shop on this spot in 1730. Their ancestors are said to have served the Satake before returning to farming at the village of Baba.
An ink inscription gives the building date. On the back of a drawer in the family Buddhist altar, a joiner named Yukichi recorded the making of the altar hall in the autumn of Bunka 7, which corresponds to 1810. A fire is remembered in the district in 1808, and Surugaya Miyata Bookstore Store and Main House is understood to be the rebuilding that followed. The construction is Dozo-zukuri, thick earthen walls raised over a timber frame, single storey with a partial 2nd storey under a tiled roof, covering 221 square meters. Further work was carried out around 1945.
Why the House Was Listed
Surugaya Miyata Bookstore Store and Main House was registered on October 7, 2014, as No. 08-0257 under the Registered Tangible Cultural Property system. The storehouse at the south-west corner of the same plot went on the list the same day as No. 08-0258. The criterion cited for both is contribution to the historic landscape of the country, so what counted was the effect of the buildings on the street rather than the refinement of any one detail.
The listing protects the shape of the whole property. A low shop block stands on the road, the main house joins it from behind, and a further wing holding the formal rooms meets that at a right angle. The sequence shows how a merchant family in a country market town used a long, narrow lot, and it can still be read despite generations of alteration.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs picks out one regional detail. Behind the lattice windows of the Tsushi-nikai upper floor sit a Tsuchido and a paper shoji screen. When fire broke out nearby, the earthen doors were pulled shut and the shop block was sealed against the flames. A gate on the south side of the frontage is part of the listing.
What to Look For
Seen from the road, the front of Surugaya Miyata Bookstore Store and Main House is almost all earth and plaster. The level above the shop is a Tsushi-nikai, a low half storey kept for storage, its lattice windows set into the thickness of the wall.
Slide the door open and the ground floor runs back as one continuous Doma, with bookcases standing directly on the packed earth. Shops that still trade on an earth floor have become uncommon.
Look up. A refit in the modern period brought in a run of Western-style arches carrying a ceiling curved like the underside of a boat, the same shape repeating toward the rear. An Edo-period earthen shell holds a much later interior inside it.
From the gate on the south side you can see the roof ridges turn as the buildings step back into the plot. A storehouse and a detached wing also stand on the site.
Visiting Surugaya Miyata Bookstore Store and Main House
Surugaya Miyata Bookstore Store and Main House is a working bookshop. During trading hours anyone may walk in as a customer and see the earth floor and the curved ceiling. The living quarters are private. Opening days and hours are set by the shop, so it is worth checking before making a special trip.
The building is opened as a cultural property during Shuchu Bakuryo, the autumn airing event run by the Hitachiota Board of Education. In 2026 the event falls on October 17 and 18, and this building opens on the 17th only, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Photography is permitted. There is no dedicated car park and no toilet. The storehouse on the same plot is not opened for the event.
The nearest station is Hitachiota on the JR Suigun Line, about 15 minutes on foot to the north and up the slope onto the ridge. Umezu Kaikan, the local history museum that acts as the event information centre, stands about 300 meters away. Dates shift from year to year, so confirm them on the city website before travelling.
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Q&A
- Can you go inside Surugaya Miyata Bookstore Store and Main House?
- The shop is a working bookshop, so you can enter as a customer during trading hours and see the earth floor and the curved ceiling. The living quarters are closed. Access as a cultural property is limited to the city's Shuchu Bakuryo airing event.
- When was Surugaya Miyata Bookstore Store and Main House built?
- In 1810. The date comes from an ink inscription on the back of a drawer in the family Buddhist altar. A fire in the district in 1808 is thought to have prompted the rebuilding.
- Is photography allowed at Surugaya Miyata Bookstore Store and Main House?
- Photography is permitted when the building opens for Shuchu Bakuryo. At other times the premises are a shop in business, so ask the owner before photographing the interior.
- How do you get to Surugaya Miyata Bookstore Store and Main House?
- Walk about 15 minutes north from Hitachiota Station on the JR Suigun Line, climbing the slope onto the Kujiragaoka ridge. It stands about 300 meters from Umezu Kaikan. There is no dedicated parking.
- What is the difference between the store and main house and the Surugaya Miyata storehouse?
- They are two separate listings on one property. The store and main house of 1810 faces the highway; the storehouse of around 1908 stands at the south-west corner of the plot. Both were registered in 2014.
Basic Information
| Name | Surugaya Miyata Bookstore Store and Main House (駿河屋宮田書店店舗兼主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2357 Uchihori-nishi, Uchihori-cho, Hitachiota City, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2014 (Heisei 26) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Dozo-zukuri, single storey with partial 2nd storey, tiled roof, building area 221 square meters, with gate |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | The store trades as a bookshop; opened as a cultural property during the Shuchu Bakuryo event |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Surugaya Miyata Bookstore Store and Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010094
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Surugaya Miyata Bookstore Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010095
- Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education, Cultural Properties of Ibaraki: Surugaya Miyata Bookstore Store and Main House and one other building
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-registered-5988/
- Hitachiota City: Cultural Properties of Kujiragaoka, Shuchu Bakuryo
- https://www.city.hitachiota.ibaraki.jp/kyoiku-bunka-sports/kyoiku-iinkai/bunka-geijutsu/shuju-bakuryo/page009084.html
- Hitachiota City: Shuchu Bakuryo 2026 programme
- https://www.city.hitachiota.ibaraki.jp/kyoiku-bunka-sports/kyoiku-iinkai/bunka-geijutsu/shuju-bakuryo/page003787.html
Last verified: 2026.09.07