A Storehouse at the Back of the Plot
The Yamanaka Family Residence Storehouse is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri storehouse at 308 Makabe, Makabe-cho, in Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture, built in the middle Meiji era and entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 1 July 2003 under registration number 08-0093.
Dozo-zukuri means a timber frame packed and coated with thick earthen render and finished in lime plaster, so that from outside almost no wood is exposed. The point of the technique was fire. A household that had put its cloth, its ledgers and its stored grain inside walls like these could expect them to survive a blaze that took the dwelling. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a building area of 78 square metres for the Yamanaka Family Residence Storehouse.
The ridge runs east to west. The roof is Kirizuma-zukuri, gabled, and the building is Hirairi, entered on the long side rather than at the gable end, with Sangawara-buki pantiles above. On the north side at ground level there is a doorway with a pent roof set over it. On the upper floor, a single window is placed in the east gable wall.
The Meiji era ran from 1868 to 1912, and the national database gives this building a date range of 1868 to 1911, placing it in the middle of that span.
Registered as a Model of Design
Three criteria govern the Registered Tangible Cultural Property scheme, and the entry for the Yamanaka Family Residence Storehouse cites the second: that the building is a model of design. That is a different claim from the one made for many buildings in the district, which are registered for the way they contribute to the historic landscape. Here the assessment turns on how well the thing is made.
The reasoning becomes easier to follow with the town's history in view. Makabe's houses were mostly thatched until a great fire in 1837 tore through the town. After it, storehouse construction spread steadily through the merchant streets, and by the late nineteenth century plasterers in Makabe had a large and demanding local market. The Yamanaka Family Residence Storehouse belongs to the mature phase of that tradition, when the craft had moved well past bare competence.
Roughly a hundred registered buildings survive in the district today, and about 17.6 hectares of it was selected as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings on 29 June 2010. Within that concentration of storehouses, this one was singled out for its detailing.
The Plasterer's Work
Four things on the Yamanaka Family Residence Storehouse repay a close look, and all four are the plasterer's doing rather than the carpenter's.
The ridge and the drip courses
The main ridge is stacked high, a deep bank of tiles along the top of the roof that gives the building a heavier silhouette than its footprint suggests. Down the plastered walls, drip mouldings are used repeatedly: small projecting ledges, run in plaster, that throw rainwater clear of the surface below instead of letting it wash down the face. They are practical, and they also cut the tall blank wall into horizontal bands.
Eaves rendered solid, rafters still showing
The eaves are plastered over rather than left as exposed timber, which is what fire protection demands. What the plasterer did next is the interesting part: the render is modelled so that the shapes of the rafters read through it. The eaves keep the rhythm of a timber soffit while presenting an unbroken plaster surface to a fire.
The doorway on the north side
The ground-floor doorway, the Tomae, is the weak point of any storehouse, since it is the one place the sealed shell has to open. Here a pent roof is set over it, and the walls at both ends of that pent roof are finished in Shikkui as well, closing the flanks rather than leaving open timber ends. It is a small decision, repeated across the building, and it is the kind of thing the registration criterion is pointing at.
The family's registered gate stands on the street edge of the same plot, in front of this building. The two were registered on the same day under different criteria.
Visiting the Yamanaka Family Residence Storehouse
This is a private residence, still lived in. The Yamanaka Family Residence Storehouse is not open, and the plot is not open either. Because it stands at the back of the site behind the gate range, what can be seen from the public road is limited: the high ridge and the upper wall show above the street buildings, but the full elevation is not visible from outside.
Photographs taken from the public street are not restricted. Do not enter the plot, and do not photograph into the grounds or towards the residents.
Getting there
Iwase Station on the JR Mito Line is the nearest railway station. The Sakuragawa city bus, Yamazakura GO, runs from there into Makabe in roughly 20 to 35 minutes depending on the routing, at a flat fare of 200 yen per trip. Kamijuku and Shimojuku are the stops inside the preservation district. There is paid parking at the Takajomachi car park, 279-1 Makabe.
Seeing storehouse interiors in Makabe
If it is the inside of a Makabe storehouse you want, the Makabe Denshokan history museum at 198 Makabe is the place to start. It sets out photographs and models of the district's registered buildings, opens 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., charges no admission and closes on Mondays and over the New Year period. Between 4 February and 3 March a number of households across the district open their frontages to display hina dolls, and that month is the best chance of seeing storehouse spaces that are otherwise shut.
Q&A
- Can I see the Yamanaka Family Residence Storehouse?
- Only partly. It stands at the rear of a private plot behind the gate range, so the roof and upper wall are visible from the public street but the whole building is not. The interior is closed.
- Why was the Yamanaka Family Residence Storehouse registered?
- It was registered under the second of the three criteria, as a model of design. The assessment points to its detailing: the high ridge stack, the repeated plaster drip mouldings, the solid rendered eaves modelled to show rafter forms, and the plastered returns on the pent roof over the doorway.
- What does dozo-zukuri mean at the Yamanaka Family Residence Storehouse?
- It is a timber frame encased in thick earthen render and finished in lime plaster, so little wood is left exposed. The method was adopted for fire resistance, and it spread through Makabe after the town fire of 1837.
- When was the Yamanaka Family Residence Storehouse built and registered?
- The national database dates it to the middle Meiji era, within a range of 1868 to 1911. It became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 1 July 2003, registration number 08-0093.
- How do I reach the Yamanaka Family Residence Storehouse by public transport?
- Take the JR Mito Line to Iwase Station and change to the Sakuragawa city bus Yamazakura GO towards Makabe. The ride takes about 20 to 35 minutes and costs a flat 200 yen. Get off at Kamijuku or Shimojuku.
Basic Information
| Name | Yamanaka Family Residence Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 308 Makabe, Makabe-cho, Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered on 1 July 2003 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Dozo-zukuri, 2-storey, tiled roof, building area 78 square metres |
| Owner | Private; the owner's name is not published in the national database |
| Public Access | Private residence. Interior closed; stands at the rear of the plot, so only part of the exterior is visible from the public street |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Yamanaka Family Residence Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003371
- Cultural Heritage Online: Yamanaka Family Residence Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/140641
- Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education: Makabe Preservation District, Sakuragawa City
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-8557/
- 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
- Sakuragawa City: Makabe Denshokan History Museum
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/education/bunkazai/page006835.html
- Sakuragawa City: Yamazakura GO city bus service
- https://www.city.sakuragawa.lg.jp/kurashi/koutsu/page005762.html
Last verified: 2026.09.08