What the Yaguchi Family Residence Store is
The Yaguchi Family Residence Store is a merchant shop building of 1900 in the Sakurai district of Makabe, Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture, entered in the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 28 April 2000 under registration number 08-0024.
The date is firm because the Munafuda, the ridge tablet nailed up when the frame is raised, survives. It names the master carpenter as well: Masubuchi Ichitaro, a local man. Masubuchi is a common surname in Makabe and other registered buildings in the town carry it, though nothing in the record links those households to him. Buildings where both the year and the builder can be pinned down are less common than one might expect.
The Yaguchi Family Residence Store faces west onto the old road. It is a two-storey timber structure with a tiled roof and a building area of 53 square metres. The roof is hipped, and the ridge runs at right angles to the street so that the gable end forms the front, an arrangement called Tsumairi. On the ground floor an L-shaped Doma of packed earth still holds the shape of a shop counter.
The rear wall joins the main house. The Agency for Cultural Affairs commentary describes that house as late Edo work, which makes the shop a Meiji-era face added to the front of an older dwelling. The Yaguchi household pressed oil and brewed soy sauce in the last decades of the Edo period, then turned to silk reeling and built one of the larger filatures in Ibaraki. By 1900 that business was well established.
Why it is registered
The Yaguchi Family Residence Store is listed under the criterion for buildings that serve as a model of form. Most registered properties in Makabe are cited for their contribution to the landscape; this one is cited for its shape. The gable-fronted merchant shop is a type that survives here without later distortion.
Most shophouses along the Makabe streets present the long slope of the roof to the road, the Hirairi arrangement. Turning the ridge end to the street is the exception. The Yaguchi Family Residence Store standing square to the west breaks the rhythm of the buildings on either side, and that break is what stops a walker.
Makabe started using the registration system in 1999. At the Yaguchi compound, four buildings went on the register in 2000: the store, the north and south sleeve storehouses, and the gate. Five more followed in 2005. The store belongs to the first group, which is why its registration number sits so low in the prefectural sequence.
Makabe's Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings, about 17.6 hectares selected in 2010, covers part of the Makabe district proper and does not extend to Sakurai.
What to look at
Cross to the far side of the road before you look. A gable-fronted building has a narrow face, and the closer you stand the less of it you can take in. From across the street the junction between the rising gable wall and the hipped roof above becomes legible, and so does the way the Yaguchi Family Residence Store sits slightly forward of its neighbours.
The L-shaped earth floor inside can be inferred from outside, from where the doorways fall and where the thresholds are worn. A shop floor bends like that so a single surface can serve both the selling space at the street and the passage running back into the house. Customers and household crossed paths on it.
Fifty-three square metres is not large for a Makabe shophouse. Within the whole Yaguchi holding the store is a small piece: the dwelling behind it, the storehouses flanking it north and south, and the stone and earthen storehouses across the road all belong to the same family, and the shop was simply the part of it that faced the public.
The year 1900 is worth holding in mind. The railway did not reach Makabe until the Taisho era, so when this building went up, goods and people alike arrived by road. That is why the front stands square to it.
Visiting
The Yaguchi Family Residence Store is privately owned and closed to visitors. Sakuragawa City asks that the town's registered properties be viewed from outside and that no one enter private grounds. There is no charge. Photograph the exterior from the public road only, and keep residents and interiors out of frame.
By rail, Iwase Station on the JR Mito Line is the gateway: about 20 minutes by taxi, or about 40 minutes by local bus to the Shimojuku stop. Coming from Tsukuba Station, take the Tsukuba City bus about 50 minutes to Tsukubasan-guchi and change to the Sakuragawa City bus for about 20 minutes. By car, allow about 20 minutes from the Sakuragawa-Chikusei interchange, or about 50 minutes from Tsuchiura-kita via Route 125 and Prefectural Route 41.
The Makabe Takajomachi car park at 279-1 Makabe, Makabe-cho takes 65 cars. From there Sakurai is a walk north through streets lined with storehouses, which is no hardship.
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 for the month. Entry is free. Participation varies year to year, so ask the Sakuragawa Tourism Association what is happening at the Sakurai end near the Yaguchi Family Residence Store.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Ibaraki
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Yaguchi Family Residence Store
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Q&A
- When was the Yaguchi Family Residence Store built?
- In 1900. The ridge tablet survives, so both the year and the name of the master carpenter are documented.
- Who built the Yaguchi Family Residence Store?
- A local master carpenter named Masubuchi Ichitaro. His name appears in the commentary in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database.
- Can visitors enter the Yaguchi Family Residence Store?
- No. It is privately owned and not open, so viewing is limited to the exterior from the road.
- Under what system is the Yaguchi Family Residence Store protected?
- As a Registered Tangible Cultural Property. Registration proceeds by notification from the owner and is intended to let a building remain in everyday use.
- How do I get to the Yaguchi Family Residence Store?
- Iwase Station on the JR Mito Line is about 20 minutes away by taxi, or about 40 minutes by local bus to the Shimojuku stop. Drivers should allow about 20 minutes from the Sakuragawa-Chikusei interchange.
Basic Information
| Name | Yaguchi Family Residence Store |
|---|---|
| Location | 373 Sakurai, Makabe-cho, Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 28 April 2000 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 53 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: 谷口家住宅店舗
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00001552
- Sakuragawa City: The Townscape of Makabe
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/tourism_guide/learn/page000455.html
- Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education: Makabe Preservation District, Sakuragawa City
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-8557/
- Sakuragawa City: Walking Makabe (registered cultural property map, PDF)
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/data/doc/1487569963_doc_23_1.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.08