What the Yaguchi Family Residence Stone Storehouse is
The Yaguchi Family Residence Stone Storehouse is a stone building of the early Taisho era in the Sakurai district of Makabe, Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture, entered in the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 12 July 2005 under registration number 08-0194. It is single-storey, built of stone with a brick section, tile-roofed, covering 72 square metres, and was extended in the later Taisho years.
It stands across the road from the shop. Three of the nine registered Yaguchi properties sit on the western side of the street, and their address differs accordingly: 172 Sakurai rather than 373. The holding spanned the road.
The building measures 6 by 3 bays, with the ridge running north to south under a hipped Yosemune-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles. The Agency for Cultural Affairs record describes it as originally two storeys in stone. The Yaguchi Family Residence Stone Storehouse is single-storey today.
A former cocoon-drying room in brick adjoins the western face. The Yaguchi household turned to silk reeling in the Meiji era and built up one of the largest filatures in Ibaraki. A room for drying cocoons attached directly to a stone store is the family trade rendered as architecture.
Why it is registered
The Yaguchi Family Residence Stone Storehouse is listed under the criterion for buildings that contribute to the historic landscape. Makabe's streets are dominated by clay-walled and shop-fronted storehouses; stone ones are few. A wall of dressed granite appearing on the western side changes how the street reads.
The stone is granite. Makabe is a granite district, and the stone quarried here is known as Makabe stone. Sakuragawa City reports that the granite of the Tsukuba massif has been recognised as one of the world's Global Heritage Stone Resources. Whether the blocks in this particular store came from local quarries is not stated in the registration record, but the building stands in the middle of the quarrying country.
The cutting is careful. Every block is chamfered along its edges, and mouldings are worked into the cornice and the string course. Those horizontal projections belong to the vocabulary of Western architecture, absorbed into Japanese building through the Meiji and Taisho years. The Yaguchi Family Residence Stone Storehouse is a warehouse that was given the treatment of a facade.
Five properties were registered together in 2005: the main house, the detached wing, this store, and the rear and grain storehouses. With the four registered in 2000, the Yaguchi compound accounts for nine registered items.
What to look at
Follow the joints. Because each block of the Yaguchi Family Residence Stone Storehouse has had its edges taken off, every joint reads as a fine dark line, and the coursing never flattens into a single plane. From a distance the wall looks uniform; close up it resolves into individual stones.
The cornice running under the eaves is visible from the road if you look up. The moulded projection casts a shadow and cuts the light at the top of the wall. Where the Shikkui plaster of a clay storehouse returns light softly, granite returns it hard. Two materials sit within one compound and can be compared directly.
The brick drying room on the western face is where two kinds of masonry meet. Different purposes and different dates were joined here, and the finish changes at the seam. Find that junction and the effect of the silk business on this property becomes concrete.
The record of a lost upper storey sometimes leaves traces on an elevation as well. Compare wall heights, the placement of openings and the way the extension meets the older fabric, and the missing floor becomes something you can reason about.
Visiting
The Yaguchi Family Residence Stone Storehouse is privately owned and not open inside. Viewing is from the road and free of charge. Sakuragawa City asks that the town's registered properties, all of them private, be seen from outside without entering the grounds. Photograph from the public road.
Because the Yaguchi Family Residence Stone Storehouse stands on the western side of the street, it faces the shop and sleeve storehouses across the road. To take in both sides at once, stand near the middle of the street, watching for traffic.
Iwase Station on the JR Mito Line is the rail gateway: about 20 minutes by taxi or about 40 minutes by local bus to the Shimojuku stop. From Tsukuba Station, ride the Tsukuba City bus about 50 minutes to Tsukubasan-guchi, then the Sakuragawa City bus about 20 minutes. By car, about 20 minutes from the Sakuragawa-Chikusei interchange, or about 50 minutes from Tsuchiura-kita by Route 125 and Prefectural Route 41. The Makabe Takajomachi car park at 279-1 Makabe, Makabe-cho takes 65 cars.
From 4 February to 3 March, the Makabe Hina Matsuri brings doll displays to more than a hundred houses and shops, which open their street-facing rooms. Viewing is free. Participation varies each year, so check with the Sakuragawa Tourism Association.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Ibaraki
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Yaguchi Family Residence Stone Storehouse
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Q&A
- When was the Yaguchi Family Residence Stone Storehouse built?
- In the early Taisho era, with an extension added in the later Taisho years. It was registered on 12 July 2005.
- What stone is the Yaguchi Family Residence Stone Storehouse built from?
- Granite. Makabe is a granite-producing district, though the registration record does not state whether these particular blocks are local.
- What was the cocoon-drying room for?
- Drying silkworm cocoons before reeling. It adjoins the western face of the Yaguchi Family Residence Stone Storehouse in brick and reflects the family's silk business.
- How many storeys does the Yaguchi Family Residence Stone Storehouse have?
- One today. The Agency for Cultural Affairs record notes that it originally had two.
- Can the Yaguchi Family Residence Stone Storehouse be visited?
- The interior is closed, but the building faces the street on its western side, so the exterior can be seen from the road.
Basic Information
| Name | Yaguchi Family Residence Stone Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 172 Sakurai, Makabe-cho, Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 12 July 2005 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 72 square metres |
| Owner | Private owner (no owner name recorded in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database) |
| Public Access | Not open to the public; exterior visible from the road |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: 谷口家住宅石蔵
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00004709
- Cultural Heritage Online: Yaguchi Family Residence Stone Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/195709
- Sakuragawa City: Makabe Stone designated a Global Heritage Stone Resource
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/kankou_bunka_sports/news_bunka/page009237.html
- Sakuragawa City: The Townscape of Makabe
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/tourism_guide/learn/page000455.html
Last verified: 2026.09.08