Sato Family Residence New Storehouse

The Last Kura to Arrive

The Sato Family Residence New Storehouse (佐藤家住宅新蔵, Satō-ke Jūtaku Shingura) is a fireproof storehouse built in 1910 on the estate of a former village headman's family in Chohoji (Chōhōji), Nagaokakyo, Kyoto Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2008.

It stands just north of the Household Goods Storehouse, its ridge running north to south. It is a 2-storey kura of Dozo-zukuri construction measuring 4.0 metres by 3.0 metres, with a building area of 12 square metres: the smallest and the youngest of the estate's 4 storehouses. The name, "new storehouse," most likely reflects its late arrival.

Its gabled, pantiled roof is an okiyane, built separately and set on top of the plastered body. At the end of the Meiji era the family was still building kura the way their Edo-period predecessors had.

A Covered Doorstep and Careful Plasterwork

The doorway is centred on the east face. In front of it lies a board floor 1.8 metres deep under a lean-to roof, a covered kuramae where goods could be set down on their way in or out. Even on a storehouse this small, that working space was not skipped.

The walls are finished in white Shikkui lime plaster, with vertical boards on the north and west faces to shield them from weather. The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out the quality of the finish, including the hachimaki, the thick band of plaster wrapped around the top of the walls under the eaves. The Sato Family Residence New Storehouse rewards attention to workmanship more than to size.

Showing Its Gable

The New Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency notes that the two rice storehouses, with their ridges set at different heights, and the gable end of the New Storehouse together give the estate a varied profile.

The rice storehouses run east to west and show their long roof slopes; the New Storehouse runs north to south, so its triangular gable faces them at a right angle. That change of direction gives depth to the row of kura on the north side of the Sato Family Residence.

Visiting

The storehouse stands inside the grounds toward the north, and it is hard to see from the street. The Sato Family Residence is a private home that is not open to the public, and the interior of the storehouse is closed. Please do not enter the grounds or look through the gate.