Itoki Shoten Muryoshian Storehouse

What Is the Itoki Shoten Muryoshian Storehouse?

The Itoki Shoten Muryoshian Storehouse (伊藤喜商店無量子庵土蔵, Itōki Shōten Muryōshi-an dozō) is a 2-storey Dozo-zukuri fireproof storehouse built around 1926 at Muryoshian, the private retreat behind the Itoki Shoten shop on Matsubara-dori in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on July 8, 2008. Its building area is 25 square meters.

It stands south of the Muryoshian Main House and is joined to it by a covered passage. The storehouse measures 6.0 meters by 4.1 meters with its ridge running east to west, under a Kirizuma-zukuri gable roof laid in Hongawarabuki, the heavier system of alternating flat and round tiles.

Rather than standing alone in a yard, the storehouse is tied to the living quarters by a roofed corridor, and that is the first thing to understand about it.

Why It Was Registered

The Itoki Shoten Muryoshian Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The judgment concerns its role in the ensemble, with the house, tea room, and well, rather than the refinement of the building on its own.

Kyoto townhouses commonly place a storehouse at the far end of the rear garden to protect goods and heirlooms from fire. At Itoki Shoten the pattern is extended: behind the shop is a second residence, Muryoshian, and the storehouse closes the southern end of that. It marks the deepest point of the property.

What to Look For

A north door with iron leaves

The doorway of the Itoki Shoten storehouse opens on the north face, toward the house. In front of it is a roofed Kuramae forecourt, so one can pass between corridor and storehouse without getting wet. The door is a pair of hinged iron leaves rather than the thick, clay-plastered timber doors seen on many storehouses.

Plaster walls and a drip ledge

The walls are finished in white Shikkui lime plaster, with a projecting drip ledge, or mizukiri, running around the base. The ledge throws rainwater clear of the lower wall so the plaster at ground level lasts longer. It also draws a crisp horizontal line across the white elevation.

Windows with tiled hoods

The windows are in the gable ends: on the east gable at both floors, and on the west gable at the upper floor only. Each has a small tiled hood, so the east end shows two hooded openings stacked one above the other and the west end only one.

How to Visit

The Itoki Shoten Muryoshian Storehouse lies within Muryoshian, which is let as a private home, and is not open to the public (checked September 27, 2026). It sits at the very back of the property and cannot be seen from Matsubara-dori.

Exterior photographs are published in the national database. On site, confine your visit to the shop front on Matsubara-dori and do not enter the residential grounds.