Mayuyama Ryusendo Store

An Art Dealer's Shop in Black Plaster and Stone

The Mayuyama Ryusendo Store (繭山龍泉堂店舗) is the shop and residence of an art dealer of 1960 in Kyobashi, Chuo City, Tokyo, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on May 10, 2018 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a reinforced concrete building of three storeys, partly four, with one basement and a building area of 191 square metres, renovated in 1983 and 2017; registration number 13-405.

A Front Designed with Antiques in Mind

The Mayuyama Ryusendo Store is a shop and residence in a corner of Kyobashi 2-chome, where art dealers gather, designed by Tohata Kenzo (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Its north and east fronts on the street are framed in weathered stone, and the walls are finished in black plaster tinted with red ochre, a design shaped with antique art in mind.

According to Chuo City, the present building was rebuilt in 1960 as a shop and residence, designed by Tohata Kenzo of the Tohata architectural office and built by Kajima Corporation. Yura stone frames the ground floor, and the cut-off north-east corner up through the third storey, and the upper walls are of black plaster mixed with red ochre. The plaster was repaired and painted in a 1983 refit, but a recent renovation restored the original black plaster finish.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency notes it as a fine example of the commercial architecture that marked the remarkable post-war recovery of the city, and registered it as a model of design.

What to Look For

Look for the stone frames and the black plaster walls tinted with red ochre (Agency for Cultural Affairs; Chuo City).

Visiting

It is owned by Mayuyama Ryusendo Co., Ltd. (Agency for Cultural Affairs). No official information on public access was found.