What the Morisawa Family Residence Pickling Room Is
The Morisawa Family Residence Pickling Room (森澤家住宅漬物部屋, Morisawa-ke jūtaku tsukemono-beya) is a small single-storey timber outbuilding of the middle Meiji period in Doi, Aki City, Kochi Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 10 November 2005. It stands southeast of the main house, right against the eastern boundary, with its ridge running north to south.
It measures 3 and a half by 2 bays under a gabled roof of pantiles, a building area of just 17 square metres. Inside are two rooms. The northern one, entered from a door in the north wall, was the pickling room; the southern one was used for storage.
The wall facing the boundary is clad in battened clapboard and finished above in Tosa lime plaster.
Why It Was Registered
The Morisawa Family Residence Pickling Room was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape, as one of the buildings that form the estate's eastern edge.
Here pickling was given a building of its own, outside the main house. In a large household, pickles were a staple preserved food that carried the family through the year, and the barrels needed somewhere to sit and mature. The Morisawa family combined that work with a storeroom under one roof, so the household's food routine can be read at the scale of an individual building.
It also stands in for a wall. Because the building sits directly on the eastern boundary, the outer wall runs from the north end of the gatehouse to the pickling room, and again from the pickling room's north end onward. The pickling room's own wall is part of the estate's perimeter.
What to Look For
On the Morisawa Family Residence Pickling Room, the outside wall is the thing to see. The face toward the boundary uses battened clapboard at the base and white Tosa lime plaster above, the same combination as the gatehouse to the south. Gate, wall, pickling room, wall: the eastern perimeter is finished so that it reads as one continuous front.
Notice where the door is. The pickling room is entered from the north, the side facing the main house, while the storeroom to the south is a separate compartment. Even in so small a building, the pickling room and the storeroom are kept apart.
At 17 square metres it is among the smallest of the estate's buildings, larger only than the toilet and bath and the well house. Yet its roof is the same gabled pantile as the others, keeping it in line with the roofscape of the estate.
Visiting
No interior opening of the Morisawa Family Residence Pickling Room has been announced (checked 25 September 2026). Because it sits on the eastern boundary, its east wall is the side that may be visible from outside, and that is where the clapboard and plaster finish can be seen.
Please photograph only from outside the grounds. Directions to the estate are on the Morisawa Family Residence page.
Q&A
- What is the Morisawa Family Residence Pickling Room?
- A small single-storey Meiji outbuilding whose northern room was used for pickling and whose southern room was a store. The pickling room is entered from the north.
- How big is the Morisawa Family Residence Pickling Room?
- It measures 3 and a half by 2 bays under a gabled pantiled roof, with a building area of 17 square metres.
- Where is the Morisawa Family Residence Pickling Room?
- Southeast of the main house, directly on the eastern boundary. The outer wall continues north and south of it.
- How is the Morisawa Family Residence Pickling Room finished outside?
- The boundary wall has battened clapboard below and Tosa lime plaster above, matching the gatehouse to the south.
- Can you visit the Morisawa Family Residence Pickling Room?
- No interior opening has been announced. As it stands on the eastern boundary, its east wall may be visible from outside.
Basic Information
| Name | Morisawa Family Residence Pickling Room (森澤家住宅漬物部屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 559 Doi, Aki City, Kochi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building), No. 39-0201 |
| Year Designated | Registered 2005/11/10 (Heisei 17) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber building, tiled roof, building area 17 square metres |
| Owner | Not listed in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (exterior from outside only) |
References
- Cultural Heritage Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Morisawa Family Residence Pickling Room
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005047
- Kochi Prefecture: Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Buildings)
- https://www.pref.kochi.lg.jp/doc/2023062200186/
Last verified: 2026.09.25
