The Oldest Building on the Plot
The Maruoka Family Residence Storehouse (丸岡家住宅土蔵) is the storehouse of a merchant compound in Shimotakase, Mino-cho, Mitoyo City, Kagawa Prefecture, built in 1903 and entered in Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 31 October 2022.
It is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri structure of 29 square metres, Kirizuma-zukuri gabled and entered from the gable end in the Tsumairi manner, roofed in Hongawarabuki round-and-flat tiles laid to a convex curve, with a plastered band running around the wall head. It stands toward the western end of the rear of the plot. Repairs were carried out in 1937.
Of the eight registered structures at the Maruoka Family Residence, this one came first. In 1903 there was no front gate, no entrance wing, no main house. There was a storehouse. What a merchant family builds before anything else tells you what it was protecting.
A Utility Building, Thoroughly Decorated
The Maruoka Family Residence Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs description states plainly that the exterior carries a rich programme of ornament. A building whose purpose is to keep goods dry received a quantity of decorative work that few storehouses get.
The interior is the opposite. One room on each floor: an earth-floored Doma below, boards above, and an attic left as split-bamboo sheathing without a ceiling. Decorated outside, unfinished inside. At the Maruoka Family Residence Storehouse the gap between the two is still legible.
The date places it. In 1903 the family was securing the back and sides of the plot; the south and rear earthen walls belong to the same late Meiji stretch, between 1898 and 1912. The storehouse was the first building placed inside that enclosure.
What to Look At
The lower walls of the Maruoka Family Residence Storehouse are finished in Namako-kabe: flat tiles fixed to the wall with the joints built up in raised plaster, producing a diamond grid. The technique protects the vulnerable lower half of an earthen wall from rain. The geometry is a by-product that the builders clearly enjoyed.
The gable carries a Kote-e plaster relief, modelled with a trowel and set high on the wall as such work usually is. Because the building is entered from the gable end, that face is its front, which puts the relief directly above the door.
The openings repay a look as well. The window surrounds are plastered into a lobed outline, and the brackets carrying the small window hoods are cut with mouldings. These are places where a straight line would have done the job.
The roof curves. Its surface swells slightly upward rather than running flat, softening the profile of the gable. Heavy round-and-flat tiles laid to that curve give the roof more presence than a 29-square-metre footprint would suggest.
Visiting
The Maruoka Family Residence Storehouse is closed to the public. Standing at the western end of the rear of the plot, it is the hardest of the eight structures to see from the road. The south earthen wall turns west and meets it, so expect at most a glimpse of the curved roof above the wall.
Following the south side of the plot westward helps. The line of the south earthen wall runs directly toward the Maruoka Family Residence Storehouse, and tracing it to its end locates the building. Whether the diamond-patterned walls or the plaster relief are visible depends on the relative heights of wall and storehouse.
The building stands within a private residence. There is no reception desk and no visitor parking, and photography is limited to what can be taken from the public road. The history of the compound and directions to it are covered on the Maruoka Family Residence page.
Q&A
- Can I go inside the Maruoka Family Residence Storehouse?
- No. It is closed to the public and stands at the rear of a private plot, so even from the road you may see no more than part of the roof above the wall.
- When was the Maruoka Family Residence Storehouse built and registered?
- It was built in 1903, repaired in 1937, and registered on 31 October 2022 under number 37-0472.
- Is the Maruoka Family Residence Storehouse the oldest of the eight structures?
- Yes. At 1903 it predates the front gate, entrance wing and main house by around two decades, and it is close in date to the south and rear earthen walls of the late Meiji era.
- What decoration does the Maruoka Family Residence Storehouse carry?
- Diamond-patterned tile-and-plaster lower walls, a trowelled plaster relief on the gable, lobed plastered window surrounds and moulded brackets under the window hoods.
- Which station is closest to the Maruoka Family Residence Storehouse?
- Mino Station on the JR Yosan Line, about 830 metres away, roughly 11 minutes on foot.
Basic Information
| Name | Maruoka Family Residence Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 533-2 Otsui, Shimotakase, Mino-cho, Mitoyo City, Kagawa Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 31 October 2022 |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | Dozo-zukuri, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building area 29 square metres |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | Closed to the public. No interior access |
References
- Maruoka Family Residence Storehouse — National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014421
- Registered Tangible Cultural Properties — Mitoyo City
- https://www.city.mitoyo.lg.jp/kakuka/kyouikuiinkai/shogai/3_1/history_bunnkazai/13938.html
- Local Houses Added to the National Register — Mitoyo City
- https://www.city.mitoyo.lg.jp/hotnews_old/reiwa4/202207hot/9908.html
Last verified: 2026.09.14
