A Storehouse That Saves Its Best Face for the Inside
Matsugaya Storehouse (松賀屋土蔵, Matsugaya Dozō) is a two-storey mud-walled dozō in Nio, Mitoyo City, Kagawa Prefecture, built in the late Meiji period between 1898 and 1912 and entered on Japan's national register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 31 October 2022. It stands immediately south of the entrance wing on the Matsugaya compound, the property of the Shiota family, merchants who traded soy sauce and tea before moving into shipping and salt.
A storehouse is a strongbox with a roof. Thick earthen walls finished in lime plaster kept fire, damp and thieves away from goods, ledgers and family valuables, which is why the type persisted in Japanese towns long after other building forms had changed. The footprint here is about 57 square metres.
What makes this one worth examining is that its two long walls are not finished alike, and the more elaborate of them faces away from the public.
Two Walls, Two Audiences
The wall along the street is coated in nezumi-shikkui, plaster tinted grey with soot, with vertical boarding protecting the lower band where splashing and knocks do the most damage. Sober, durable, unremarkable in the best sense.
Turn to the wall facing into the compound and the treatment changes. Here the plaster is black, a finish that took repeated polishing to achieve, and the lower band is worked as namako-kabe: square tiles set flat with raised ridges of white plaster running between them. The ridges are laid out in shippō-tsunagi, a pattern of interlocking circles that reads as a chain of four-petalled forms and carries associations of prosperity and continuity.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes the elaboration of this inner face specifically. It is an inversion of the usual logic. Rather than advertising to the town, the family kept the finest plasterwork where it would be seen from the courtyard, by the household and by guests who had been admitted.
The east gable end carries one more piece of display. A mushiko-mado, the small window with thick plaster bars, sits on the ground floor there, and above it a hood roofed in copper sheet rests on carved brackets. Copper on a storehouse window is not a functional necessity.
Mitoyo City drew attention to the shippō pattern when the three Matsugaya buildings were shown to the press in July 2022, describing it as a traditional motif carrying auspicious meanings including prosperity.
Structure Above the Ceiling
The roof is gabled and covered in hon-gawara tiles, and it is an oki-yane: a separate roof frame set over the earthen box rather than built into it. The arrangement protects the plaster from rain, lets air move above the stored goods, and allows the roof to be repaired without disturbing the walls. It also gives dozō their characteristic silhouette, with the roof appearing to hover slightly clear of the body.
Inside the roof space, the carpenters used a ji-mune, a horizontal ridge timber, and chose a piece with pronounced natural curve. Sloping nobori-bari beams land on it.
Using a strongly curved timber is a deliberate choice, not a compromise. A crooked trunk follows the grain of how the tree grew and can carry load where a sawn straight member would need more depth. Carpenters who could read timber selected such pieces on purpose, and leaving the curve visible was a quiet demonstration of that skill.
The upper floor is reached from inside, and photographs in the Agency for Cultural Affairs record show the second-floor space looking east, its frame plainly exposed.
The Building Today
All three registered structures at Matsugaya are cared for by a general incorporated association bearing the house name. Its predecessor took over management after residents formed a townscape group in 2013 to bring the compound, empty for decades, back into use.
The association is candid about the difficulty. Roof tiles have deteriorated and plaster has fallen away in places, and a compound of this size demands continuous cleaning before any repair work is even considered. Since February 2026 the paid rental of rooms, previously offered from 5,000 yen plus tax for three hours, has been suspended for maintenance, with no announced date for resumption. Free open days are held irregularly and posted on the association's website and social media accounts.
The storehouse exterior can be taken in from the road, where it forms a continuous frontage with the entrance wing to its north. Anyone hoping to see the black-plastered inner wall needs to arrive on a day when the compound is open.
The site sits about 15 minutes by car from the Sanuki-Toyonaka interchange on the Takamatsu Expressway, with five free parking spaces. From JR Takuma Station on the Yosan Line, Mitoyo City community buses on the Nio Line run into central Nio on weekdays and Saturdays for a flat 100 yen, though not often; a taxi takes 12 to 15 minutes. Chichibugahama, the beach known for its reflective tidal flats at sunset, lies a short drive to the west.
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Q&A
- What is special about Matsugaya Storehouse compared with other storehouses?
- Its two long walls are finished differently. The street side uses grey plaster with vertical boarding at the base, while the side facing into the compound uses black plaster with a namako tile wall laid in an interlocking shippō circle pattern, so the more elaborate work faces inward rather than toward the public.
- When was Matsugaya Storehouse built, and what protection does it have?
- It dates to the late Meiji period, roughly 1898 to 1912, and was entered on the national register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 31 October 2022 under registration number 37-0468, for contributing to the historic character of the landscape.
- Can I go inside Matsugaya Storehouse?
- Not on a walk-in basis. The compound is private and opens on an irregular schedule of free public days announced by the managing association, and paid rental of the buildings has been suspended since February 2026 for maintenance. The exterior facing the road can be seen at any time.
- What does the shippō pattern on Matsugaya Storehouse mean?
- Shippō-tsunagi is a traditional Japanese motif of overlapping circles forming a continuous chain, associated with prosperity and unbroken continuity. Mitoyo City highlighted it as an auspicious design when the registration was announced in July 2022.
- Where exactly is Matsugaya Storehouse on the compound?
- It stands directly south of the entrance wing, continuing the compound's frontage along the eastern road, with the 1916 main house set behind them. All three buildings hold separate registrations made on the same day in October 2022.
Basic Information
| Name | Matsugaya Storehouse (松賀屋土蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 980 Kita-chō, Nio, Nio-chō, Mitoyo City, Kagawa Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registration no. 37-0468; criterion: contribution to the historic character of the landscape |
| Year Designated | 31 October 2022 (Reiwa 4) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Dozō construction, two storeys, tiled roof; building area approx. 57 m² |
| Owner | Matsugaya General Incorporated Association |
| Public Access | Street elevation visible at any time; interior only on irregular free open days announced by the managing association |
References
- 国指定文化財等データベース — 松賀屋土蔵
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00014417
- 国指定文化財等データベース — 松賀屋玄関棟
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00014416
- 一般社団法人松賀屋 — 松賀屋と仁尾
- https://www.nio-matsugaya.com/blank-1
- 一般社団法人松賀屋 — お問合せ・アクセス
- https://www.nio-matsugaya.com/blank-4
- 三豊市 — 歴史を感じる市内の家屋が国の登録有形文化財に
- https://www.city.mitoyo.lg.jp/hotnews_old/reiwa4/202207hot/9908.html
- 仁尾興産株式会社 — 会社案内
- https://www.navio.ne.jp/company/
Last verified: 2026.08.09