Mushakoji Senke Storehouse

The Storehouse Behind a Tea Master's House

The Mushakoji Senke Storehouse (武者小路千家土蔵, Mushakōji Senke Dozō) is a thick-walled Dozo-zukuri storehouse of about 1881 on the west edge of the Mushakoji Senke tea school's compound in Kamigyō Ward, Kyoto City, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 8 November 2004.

With a building area of 23 square metres, the Mushakoji Senke Storehouse adjoins the main house on its north side and is reached by a corridor running north from it. Of the registered buildings in the compound, it is the only one that is neither a tea room nor a dwelling.

Why It Was Registered: Part of the Historic Landscape

The Mushakoji Senke Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The main house and the two tea rooms, registered the same day, were all listed as buildings that have become models of their type; the storehouse alone was judged on what it adds to the scene.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it, like the main house, to about 1881. That puts it in the years when Isshisai was rebuilding the tea rooms and garden after the fire of 1854, which suggests the house and its storehouse were put back together.

What the storehouse was used for is not stated in the official record.

Construction: Tiled Gable Roof and White Plaster

The Mushakoji Senke Storehouse measures 3 ken along the ridge and 2.5 ken across, roughly 5.5 metres by 4.5 metres. The roof is a simple gable, Kirizuma-zukuri, laid with Hongawarabuki, the heavier style of alternating flat and round tiles, and the walls are finished in white Shikkui lime plaster.

The number of storeys is recorded two ways. The structure field of the Agency's database says two storeys; the description on the same page says one. We give both here and do not choose between them.

What to Look For: Three Doors and Two Round Windows

The entrance to the Mushakoji Senke Storehouse is a small vestibule, the Kuramae, set in the corridor running north from the main house. Three kinds of door are fitted one behind another: heavy double-leaf Tsuchido clay doors, then an urajirodo, a door with a plastered inner face, then a screen door. Layering a thick fireproof door in front of lighter ones is a standard arrangement in Japanese storehouses.

On the west face are two small round windows. Most storehouses make do with square openings, and a pair of circles in a white wall is the detail that catches the eye.

Viewing the Mushakoji Senke Storehouse

The Mushakoji Senke Storehouse is not open to the public and cannot be visited. It sits at the back of the compound, north of the main house on the western edge, and from Mushakōji-dōri only the gate and boundary wall can be seen. We have not been able to confirm whether the round windows on the west face are visible from outside the property.

No visiting arrangements are advertised, so please keep to the street and view the frontage quietly.