Raku Family Residence Main Storehouse

Raku Family Residence Main Storehouse: A Store With a Shrine in Its Eaves

The Raku Family Residence Main Storehouse (樂家住宅本蔵, Raku-ke jūtaku hongura) is a two-storey earth-walled storehouse at the north-west of the main house in the Raku potters' compound in Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto; it is dated to the early Meiji period and was registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2007.

It stands close to the boundary with its ridge running north to south, 2 and a half bays by 2 bays, with white lime-plastered walls under a gabled roof of round-and-flat tiles. The recorded building area is 32 square metres.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the early Meiji period; the Raku Museum dates the rebuilding of the family house to 1855.

Why It Was Registered

Like its neighbour, the Raku Family Residence Main Storehouse was listed for its contribution to the historic landscape, the Agency describing it as small but heavily built.

The roof is part of that weight. Hongawara tiling, with alternating flat and half-round tiles, is heavier and more formal than the pantiles on the main house and kiln house. Together with the clothing storehouse, it gives the back of the property a solid, sheltered edge.

What to Look For: An Inari Shrine Under the Eave

The entrance is on the east side, beneath a projecting pent eave, and the upper floor has windows on its long side.

The detail worth knowing about sits at the north end of that eave: a small Inari shrine, facing south, built into the storehouse itself. Rather than standing on its own in the garden, the shrine is built into the storehouse, part of the same structure.

The kiln house is attached to the south-west side of the Raku Family Residence Main Storehouse. A strongroom for the family's goods sharing a wall with the kiln that makes its living: the back of this lot is home and workshop at once.

Seeing the Main Storehouse

The Raku Family Residence Main Storehouse stands in the north-west part of the grounds and is not visible from the street. It is part of a private home and is not open.

The works and papers handed down in the family were donated to the Raku Museum next door, which opened in 1978, and can be seen there. Directions are on the Raku Family Residence page.