Sato Family Residence Household Goods Storehouse

A Long Kura Behind the Main House

The Sato Family Residence Household Goods Storehouse (佐藤家住宅雑具蔵, Satō-ke Jūtaku Zatsugugura) is a fireproof storehouse of the Kaei era (1848 to 1854) 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 north of the main house, toward the west side of the lot, with its ridge running north to south. It is a 2-storey kura of Dozo-zukuri construction, its timber frame buried in thick clay walls, and it is long and narrow: 9.7 metres by 4.0 metres, for a building area of 39 square metres. That makes it the largest of the estate's 4 storehouses. The gabled, pantiled roof is an okiyane, a separate roof set on top of the plastered body of the building.

As the name suggests, it most likely held the household's tools and everyday goods. Kyoto Tōbunkai, the association of registered-property owners, reports that timbers in the storehouses on the north side of the estate bear ink inscriptions dated to the Bunka and Kaei eras, and the date of this storehouse falls within that Kaei period.

An East Door and Iron-Banded Ceiling

The entrance is on the east face, a little south of centre, closed by a pair of hinged doors. A board floor is laid in front of it under a lean-to roof, so goods could be moved in and out even in the rain: a small covered work area at the storehouse door.

Inside is a single undivided room. On the upper floor, thin iron bands are fixed across the ceiling, a detail recorded by the Agency for Cultural Affairs and one of the few clues to the interior for anyone who cannot go in.

A detached okiyane roof leaves an air gap between the clay body and the roof, and it is known as a way of protecting the contents if the roof itself catches fire. At 9.7 metres long and covered this way, the Sato Family Residence Household Goods Storehouse is the most substantial of the estate's kura.

Why It Was Registered

The storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. A long kura lies behind the main house, the New Storehouse stands just north of it, and the West and East Rice Storehouses line the northern edge. The Sato Family Residence Household Goods Storehouse is where that cluster of storehouses begins.

Visiting

The storehouse stands inside the grounds, northwest of the main house, and 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.