The Family Home Behind the Shop
The Kurosawa Jisuke Shoten Main House (黒沢治助商店主屋, Kurosawa Jisuke Shōten Shuoku) is a single-storey timber house of the late Taisho period (1912 to 1925) on the north side of the Kurosawa Jisuke Shoten plot in Fukuoka, Ninohe City, Iwate Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2 November 2009.
It stands behind the street-front store, to which it is joined by a connecting corridor. The house runs east to west in the middle of the plot's north edge, with a building area of 119 square metres under a pantiled gable roof.
Why It Was Registered: Walls Built Against Fire
The Kurosawa Jisuke Shoten Main House is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out its heavy, forceful exterior, and the look comes from how the walls are finished.
The house is built in Ōkabe style, with the posts buried inside thick walls rather than left exposed, and the outside is finished in Shikkui lime plaster. Even the storm shutters are plastered on the outer face and then sheathed in copper. Almost no bare timber is left to catch a spark. On a plot that also has brick fire walls along its front boundaries, the same concern with fire reaches the family's own living quarters.
What to Look For: The Entrance and the Earthen Passage
The door is on the west side. Toward the south end of a lean-to Geya along that face, a small gabled roof and a short screening wall frame the entrance, a little roof set against the broad one of the house.
Inside, an earth-floored passage runs along the south side of the Kurosawa Jisuke Shoten Main House, and beside it are rooms including the joi. Joi (常居) is the name used in northern Iwate and Aomori for the everyday family living room, and the term survives here in a merchant family's house.
Seeing the Main House
The Kurosawa Jisuke Shoten Main House sits in the middle of the north side of the plot, deep behind the store, so it can barely be seen from the street. No interior opening has been announced (checked 29 September 2026).
We found no occasion to see its plastered walls or copper-clad shutters at close range. The site is private property, so please stay outside the gate.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Iwate
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Kurosawa Jisuke Shoten Main House
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Q&A
- How old is the Kurosawa Jisuke Shoten Main House?
- It dates from the late Taisho period (1912 to 1925), the same period as the street-front store and the corridor.
- How is the Kurosawa Jisuke Shoten Main House built?
- It is a single-storey timber house of 119 square metres with a pantiled gable roof and thick walls finished in lime plaster, with the posts hidden inside the walls.
- What is special about the shutters of the Kurosawa Jisuke Shoten Main House?
- They are plastered on the outside and covered with copper sheet to resist fire.
- What is the joi in the Kurosawa Jisuke Shoten Main House?
- A regional name for the family's everyday living room. Here it sits beside the earthen passage on the south side.
- Can I see the Kurosawa Jisuke Shoten Main House from the street?
- Hardly. It stands at the back of the plot, and no interior opening has been announced.
Basic Information
| Name | Kurosawa Jisuke Shoten Main House (黒沢治助商店主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 6 Nakamachi, Fukuoka, Ninohe City, Iwate Prefecture, and other lots |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2009/11/2 (Heisei 21) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber building, tiled roof, building area 119 square metres |
| Owner | Not listed in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database |
| Public Access | Interior not open (hard to see from the street) |
References
- 黒沢治助商店主屋 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00007828
- 黒沢治助商店主屋 (Cultural Heritage Online)
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/198819
Last verified: 2026.09.29
