Zorokuen Storehouses 7 and 8 (Kitamae Ship Owner's Residence, Former Sakaya Choichiro Family Residence)

Two storehouses under one roof

Zorokuen Storehouses 7 and 8 is a single-storey timber storehouse in Hashitatemachi, Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture, built during the Taisho era between 1912 and 1925 and listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 17 February 1999.

It covers 54 square metres, second only to the main house among the 11 registered entries. Two storehouses stand side by side with their eaves touching, entered on the long side in the Hirairi manner, and a covering roof was thrown over both. Rice was kept here.

That is why the name carries two numbers. Inside there are two buildings; from outside there is one, and the registration treats Zorokuen Storehouses 7 and 8 as a single entry.

Why a covering roof

The criterion was contribution to the historic landscape. Zorokuen Storehouses 7 and 8 closes the southern end of the run of storehouses along the road.

A covering roof is exactly what it sounds like: a second roof built over structures already standing. The valley between two adjacent roofs is hard to keep watertight, and in snow country it is worse than hard. Roofing the pair together removes the problem and gives the stores inside a double layer against the weather. Sensible for a rice store, and it left the street with one face instead of two.

A new roof made to match

The finish follows the neighbours. The eaves band is sealed with Shikkui plaster and the walls are boarded vertically, the same treatment used on Storehouse 5 and Storehouse 6, so the later roof does not announce itself.

Kaga Hashitate was selected as a national Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings on 27 December 2005. What is protected is a pattern of estates with storehouses and outbuildings arranged around each main house, read from the road as a continuous line. Folding two stores under one roof can be seen as a decision made to join that line.

Seeing Storehouses 7 and 8

Zorokuen Storehouses 7 and 8 forms part of the street frontage, so the exterior is visible from the road. The doubling is not obvious from outside; the clue is in the height of the eaves and the way the roof spans.

No primary source confirms whether the interior is open. Ask about access and photography before visiting. Opening hours and directions for the estate are on the Zorokuen page.