Aizen Family Residence West Storehouse

The Larger of the Two Sake Storehouses

The Aizen Family Residence West Storehouse (愛染家住宅西蔵, Aizen-ke Jūtaku Nishigura) is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri clay-walled storehouse of about 1931 standing south of the Aizen family townhouse and west of its East Storehouse in Higashihaze-chō, Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 12 July 2005.

It was built as a bottling store for sake. The Aizen Family Residence West Storehouse measures 5 bays by 2.5 bays with a building area of 48 square metres, more than twice the 23 square metres of the East Storehouse, which makes it the larger of the two.

Why It Was Registered: A Working Store in the Streetscape

The Aizen Family Residence West Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. With a second storehouse finished to match the first, the merchant compound south of the main house keeps its coherence.

Storage and bottling were given separate buildings, and the bottling store was built the larger of the two. That both survive, each with its recorded use, keeps the working layout of an early 1930s sake business legible, and that is part of this building's value.

What to Look For: A Long North-South Wall and Its Doorway

Unlike its neighbour, the Aizen Family Residence West Storehouse has its ridge running north to south. The roof is gabled, in the Kirizuma-zukuri manner, and covered in Sangawara-buki pantiles, with the entrance on a long side in the Hirairi arrangement. The long east wall, five bays in length, has its doorway at the north end.

Over the door is a lean-to Hisashi eave set against the wall. Placing the door at the north end, the side nearest the main house, is something it shares with the East Storehouse, whose doorway is on its north wall.

The finish matches the East Storehouse: a base of Namako-kabe tiling, white Shikkui plaster above and a Hachimaki band under the eaves. With two storehouses of the same design set at right angles, the differences in orientation and length are easy to compare.

Viewing the West Storehouse

Like the rest of the compound, the Aizen Family Residence West Storehouse is private property, and nobody is admitted inside. It sits a step back from the road, west of the East Storehouse, and we have not been able to confirm how much of it can be seen from the street.

Viewing is limited to what is visible from the road. Please do not walk onto the property to look behind the buildings. For a clearer idea of its appearance, see the photographs in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database.