A Meiji shop on a Makabe street corner
Takaku Family Residence Store is a two-storey timber shop building at 191 Makabe, Makabe-cho, Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture, built in the Meiji era and entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2002 (Heisei 14).
It stands on the northeast corner of the junction where Gojinya-mae-dori crosses Shimojuku-dori, near the middle of the old town. Corner plots in a merchant town are the ones people navigate by, and this one carries a broad, low front that reads as a single wall of timber and render from either street.
Makabe (真壁) began as the settlement attached to Makabe Castle and kept its street grid after the castle was abandoned. Under the Kasama domain a Jinya administrative post replaced the castle, and the town grew as a country market centre trading cotton cloth north into the Tohoku region. Roughly 100 buildings here carry national registration, and the Takaku store is one of them.
Why the Takaku store is on the national register
The building was registered on 21 August 2002 under registration number 08-0069, in the 34th round of registrations, and the notification followed on 3 September of the same year. The criterion applied was that the building contributes to the historic landscape of the country.
That criterion is worth taking literally here. The Takaku Family Residence Store is not registered for rare joinery or for a famous builder. It is registered because the streetscape of Makabe only works as a whole, and this corner is one of the pieces that holds the whole together.
Sakuragawa City moved quickly once it decided to use the register: from 1999 it pushed 104 buildings through registration in a short span, and Makabe became known nationally as a town of registered properties. The wider preservation district followed in 2010, when about 17.6 hectares of central Makabe were selected as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. The 2011 earthquake then damaged more than nine tenths of the traditional buildings in the district, and recovery work ran for years afterwards. The town people walk through today is the result of that repair programme.
What to look at
The Takaku Family Residence Store measures six ken along the front by three and a half ken deep, roughly 11 metres by 6.4 metres, with a registered building area of 131 square metres. The roof is Yosemune-zukuri, hipped on all four sides, laid with Sangawara-buki pantiles, and the entrance sits on the long eaves side in the Hirairi arrangement rather than under a gable.
The outer walls are finished in mortar render. Makabe learned that lesson the hard way: after the great fire of 1837 the town shifted from thatch and board roofing to tiled roofs and plastered or storehouse-style walls, and merchants began building shop storehouses along the main streets. Render over timber, the Nuriya-zukuri approach, was the cheaper way to buy the same fire resistance.
Look along the front and the rhythm is regular: posts set at two-ken intervals, and a Geya lean-to canopy one ken deep running the width of the facade. That canopy is what a customer stood under while the shopkeeper worked inside. It also throws a hard band of shade across the render, which is why the building photographs so differently at midday and late afternoon.
Alterations have accumulated over more than a century, and the register entry says so plainly. What survives is the exterior composition and the Zashiki reception rooms, which keep the proportions and detailing of the original plan.
Visiting the Takaku Family Residence Store
Sakuragawa City owns the building and runs it as a "challenge shop", a low-rent trial space for people preparing to start a business in the city. The ground floor offered to tenants is 128.12 square metres and comes with a washroom, toilet, air conditioning and free Wi-Fi. Retail, service and light food businesses are eligible, and the use fee is 10,000 yen for 30 days.
This means the interior is open in the most ordinary way possible: when a tenant is trading, you walk in as a customer. There is no admission charge and no ticket desk. Tenants set their own days and hours within a window of 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and the space is sometimes between occupants, so confirm with the Urban Development Division of Sakuragawa City before making a special trip. The exterior can be seen at any hour from the public street.
Photography of the outside from the street is unrestricted. Inside, the shop is someone's working business, so ask the tenant first.
Makabe has no railway station. From Iwase Station on the JR Mito Line, take the Sakuragawa city bus "Yamazakura GO" toward Tsukubasanguchi and get off at Shimojuku, the stop for the old town; the city reckons about 25 minutes by bus to the Makabe municipal office nearby, or about 20 minutes by taxi. Cycling is a reasonable alternative, with rental bicycles at Iwase Station and about 10 kilometres of mostly flat road. The old town is compact enough to cover on foot once you arrive.
Q&A
- Can visitors go inside the Takaku Family Residence Store?
- Yes, when a tenant is trading. The city leases the ground floor as a trial retail space, so the interior is entered as a customer rather than as a ticketed visitor. Hours vary with the tenant, so check with Sakuragawa City in advance.
- Is there an admission fee for the Takaku Family Residence Store?
- No. There is no admission charge. The building operates as a shop, and the street facade can be viewed at any time without cost.
- When was the Takaku Family Residence Store built and registered?
- The building dates from the Meiji era, between 1868 and 1911. It was placed on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 21 August 2002, under registration number 08-0069.
- How do I reach the Takaku Family Residence Store by public transport?
- Take the JR Mito Line to Iwase Station, then the Sakuragawa city bus "Yamazakura GO" toward Tsukubasanguchi, alighting at Shimojuku. The city gives about 25 minutes by bus, or about 20 minutes by taxi.
- Can I take photographs at the Takaku Family Residence Store?
- The exterior may be photographed freely from the public street. The interior is an operating shop, so ask the tenant before photographing indoors.
Basic Information
| Name | Takaku Family Residence Store |
|---|---|
| Location | 191 Makabe, Makabe-cho, Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 21 August 2002 (Heisei 14); registration number 08-0069 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2 storeys, tiled roof; building area 131 square metres; 6 ken by 3 and a half ken, roughly 11 metres by 6.4 metres |
| Owner | Sakuragawa City |
| Public Access | Used as a city-run "challenge shop"; the shop floor can be entered during the tenant's trading hours, set within 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. No admission fee. Exterior visible from the street at all times. |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Takaku Family Residence Store
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00002875
- Sakuragawa City: Challenge Shop at the former Takaku Family Residence, call for tenants
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/kurashi/news/page010050.html
- 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 Important Preservation District, Sakuragawa City
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-8557/
- Sakuragawa City: Access to the city
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/shisei/profile/page008866.html
Last verified: 2026.09.09