A Small Storehouse Built to Last and Not Easily Made Again
West of the detached annex on the Ishii estate at Nōma stands a storehouse so small it could be missed, about twenty-two square metres in plan, yet it carries the most demanding registration criterion of all seven Ishii buildings. Where most were listed for their part in the historic landscape, this kura, built in 1915 in the fourth year of Taishō, was recognised as something not easily reproduced. The reason is craft. Nearly every surface of it was made by a skilled hand using methods that few can match today.
A Lesson in Wall Finishes
This is a dozō, an earthen-walled storehouse with thick fireproof walls, built two storeys high in a tsumairi plan, entered from the gable end. It is modest in size, about two and a half ken along the front and two ken deep, under a kirizuma gabled roof finished in hongawara, the older formal tiling of broad pan tiles alternating with rounded cover tiles.
The walls are where the building earns its listing, because they change as the eye climbs. Above the stone foundation the lower band is namako-kabe, square tiles bedded flat with the plaster joints raised over them in a swelling white lattice, a finish named for its resemblance to a sea cucumber and prized as much for shedding rain as for its pattern. The waist below is clad in yakisugi, charred cedar boards set vertically, their burned surface a natural guard against rot and fire. Higher up, the upper walls and the eaves band, the hachimaki, are coated in white shikkui plaster. The framing around the high windows is finished with particular care.
The storehouse sits on a stone plinth whose face curves with a gentle slack, the line builders call nawa-darumi, a loose-rope sag that gives the masonry a soft, living edge. Lifted on that base, the little kura stands out far beyond its size.
Why It Was Registered, and What to Look For
The storehouse was placed on the national register of tangible cultural properties on 9 February 2005 as number 37-0245, one of the seven Ishii buildings listed that day. Its criterion, that it would not be easy to reproduce, is the one reserved for work whose materials and handcraft cannot readily be replaced. Among the Ishii group it is the building chosen for its making rather than for its place in the view.
A storehouse mattered to a prosperous family because it kept valuables safe from the fires that periodically swept timber towns. The thick earthen walls, the charred boarding, the tiled lattice all served that end, and on the Ishii estate the owners spent on the finish what the function alone did not demand. The result is a copybook of late-Meiji and Taishō storehouse technique compressed into one small structure.
For the visitor, this is a building to study closely rather than to take in at a glance. Find the three bands of the wall and learn to name them: charred board at the waist, white tiled lattice above, smooth white plaster at the top. Look at how the masons let the stone base sag in a soft curve. The pleasure here is in the detail and in recognising how much skill a plain-seeming box can hold.
The storehouse is private property and is not open inside; please view it from outside. To see the broader world of Shōdoshima soy storehouses up close, the Marukin Soy Sauce Memorial Museum nearby is open to the public, and the Hishio-no-Sato walking routes lead past many such buildings in the streets of Nōma.
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Q&A
- Why is this small building considered special?
- It is the one Ishii building registered as not easily reproducible, a criterion used for handcraft that cannot readily be replaced. Its layered wall finishes and careful detail reward close looking despite its modest size.
- What is namako-kabe?
- Namako-kabe is a wall finish of square tiles laid flat with raised white plaster joints forming a lattice over them. It sheds rain well and is named for its likeness to a sea cucumber.
- What are the dark boards on the lower wall?
- They are yakisugi, cedar boards whose surface has been charred. The burned layer resists rot and fire and is a traditional cladding for the lower walls of storehouses and houses in the region.
- What is a dozō?
- A dozō is a storehouse with thick earthen, plastered walls built to resist fire. Wealthy families used them to protect valuables from the fires that often spread through timber-built towns.
- What is the curve in the stone base?
- The stone plinth is laid with a gentle sag known as nawa-darumi, a loose-rope curve. It softens the line of the masonry and lifts the small storehouse so that it reads as a distinct, finished object.
Basic Information
| Name | Kikko-ishi Ishii Family Residence, Earthen Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 262 Saka-no-yama-kō, Nōma, Shōdoshima-chō, Shōzu-gun, Kagawa Prefecture |
| Category | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), No. 37-0245 |
| Registered | 9 February 2005 (gazetted 28 February 2005) |
| Registration criterion | Not easily reproducible |
| Built | 1915 (Taishō 4) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Structure | Earthen-walled storehouse, two storeys, tiled roof, building area about 22 m², with stone wall |
| Access | Private property; exterior viewing only, interior not open |
References
- National Database of Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Kikko-ishi Ishii Family Residence, Earthen Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00004653
- Walking the Hishio-no-Sato soy district, Shōdoshima (My Kagawa)
- https://www.my-kagawa.jp/shodoshima/feature/shodoshima/beauty3
- Shōdoshima Town: the Sanuki soy sauce brewing tradition
- https://www.town.shodoshima.lg.jp/gyousei/kakuka/shogaigakushuka/2/5909.html
- Kagawa Prefecture: list of registered tangible cultural properties
- https://www.pref.kagawa.lg.jp/kenkyoui/shogaigakushu/bunkazai/culturalassets/culturalassets_16.html
Last verified: 2026.06.25