Zorokuen Storehouse 4 (Kitamae Ship Owner's Residence, Former Sakaya Choichiro Family Residence)

A single-storey store for fishing and funeral gear

Zorokuen Storehouse 4 is a single-storey timber storehouse in Hashitatemachi, Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture, built in 1920 and listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 17 February 1999.

It covers 25 square metres and stands parallel to Storehouse 3, just east of it. Most of the stores on this estate rise to two floors; Zorokuen Storehouse 4 does not.

It held fishing equipment and funeral furnishings. The family made its money at sea in the coasting trade, yet the household still kept its own nets and its own funeral gear, each with a place assigned to it.

Plainness as a record

The criterion was contribution to the historic landscape, but the construction of Zorokuen Storehouse 4 differs sharply from its neighbours. The stone base is low, the walls are boarded throughout, and the rafters are left visible at the eaves. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it extremely plain.

High-grade and low-grade storehouses sit side by side on one plot. Construction followed contents, which is a distinction invisible to anyone who looks only at the lacquered rooms of the main house. The estate worked as a place to display and a place to work.

Rafters left in the open

Look under the eaves. With no plaster and no facing boards, the Taruki rafters carrying the roof are simply there to be counted. What the other storehouses hide, this one shows.

The walls are boarded from the base up, so the joints and fixings can be followed by eye. Moving along the row from Storehouse 3 to Zorokuen Storehouse 4, the foundation drops and the finishes fall away. The pairing shows how a single household graded its own buildings.

Seeing Storehouse 4

Zorokuen Storehouse 4 lines up behind Storehouse 3 as seen from the road, so it reads as the depth of the row rather than as a street frontage.

Interior access is not confirmed. What can be visited on a given day, and whether photography is permitted, are worth asking before you travel. Hours and directions are on the Zorokuen estate page.