What the Former Yamada Main Store (Kakutaya) Zashiki Storehouse is
The Former Yamada Main Store (Kakutaya) Zashiki Storehouse, in Japanese 旧山田本店（角田屋）座敷蔵 (Kyū-Yamada Honten Kakutaya Zashikigura), is an earthen storehouse built in 1930 in Teraike Mikkamachi, Toyoma-machi, Tome City, Miyagi Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on February 4, 2021. It stands behind Kakutaya, a bedding shop, set back from the main shopping street of Toyoma.
It is a 2-storey Dozo-zukuri building with a building area of 63 m², 5.5 Ken by 3 ken, under a tiled, gabled roof (Kirizuma-zukuri). A zashikigura is a storehouse with a formal reception room (Zashiki) inside; here an 8-mat room occupies the upper floor.
History of the Zashiki Storehouse
According to Kakutaya, construction began on April 20, 1930, for Yamada Takeshiro, with Sato Tadahiro as master carpenter. The senior Yamada line traded as Yamada Honten, and Takeshiro headed a branch house called Yamagun, which brewed miso and soy sauce from the grain of its extensive farmland. The shop's account says Yamagun built this and other buildings in the depths of the Showa Depression partly to give people work.
So although the national register files the Former Yamada Main Store (Kakutaya) Zashiki Storehouse under the name Yamada Honten, it was built by the branch family, not the main line. After the war the Yamada family fell on hard times, partly through land reform, and in 1966 the storehouse and its lot passed to Kakutaya, whose founder had worked for Yamagun before the war.
Kakutaya's company history also gives the construction year as 1929 and the registration as 2020. This article follows the national database: built 1930, registered 2021.
Why the Zashiki Storehouse was registered
The Former Yamada Main Store (Kakutaya) Zashiki Storehouse was registered as contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs praises it as a storehouse built with fine materials and well designed inside and out.
Outside, the lower walls of both storeys are finished in Namako-kabe, and the frame around the fireproof entrance door is treated in a Western manner. Inside, the posts and the Tokonoma frame are zelkova finished in clear lacquer that lets the grain show. Kakutaya recalls that university researchers who surveyed it around 1978 said a storehouse of this standard would be hard to build again, for want of both skills and materials.
What to look for in the Zashiki Storehouse
The upper-floor room is the heart of the building: a shoin-style room with an alcove, where even the handrail, the Ranma transoms and the lattice fittings are lacquered. Kakutaya tells of an elderly craftsman from Yamagata Prefecture who had lacquered the fittings over seven winters from 1935, and who came back late in life to see his work once more.
The shop compares it with the lacquered storehouses of Masuda, near Yokote in Akita Prefecture, noting that both towns were trading hubs where merchants and landlords flourished from the Edo period into modern times. White plaster and tiled walls outside, glossy zelkova and lacquer within: that contrast defines the Former Yamada Main Store (Kakutaya) Zashiki Storehouse.
Visiting the Zashiki Storehouse
The Former Yamada Main Store (Kakutaya) Zashiki Storehouse stands at the back of the Kakutaya premises, 35 Teraike Mikkamachi. Kakutaya's history says it began opening the storehouse interior to visitors in 2005. The shop is open 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and closed on Sundays, phone 0220-52-2001 (checked September 2026). Current arrangements for viewing the interior and for photography are not posted, so ask the shop before you go.
By public transport, take the Higashi Nippon Kyuko Sendai to Toyoma highway bus from Kencho Shiyakusho-mae or Sendai Station (bay 32, in front of the former Sakuraya store) to Toyoma Meijimura. The 10:00 a.m. departure arrives at 11:35 a.m.; there are three buses a day toward Toyoma, cash only (checked September 2026). Drivers should use Tome IC on the Sanriku Expressway.
The registered buildings of the main line, the Former Yamada Main Store (Yamakano Brewery), stand nearby in the same town centre; their shopfront and gate can be seen from the street.
Q&A
- When was the Former Yamada Main Store (Kakutaya) Zashiki Storehouse built and registered?
- The national database dates it to 1930 and records its registration on February 4, 2021. Kakutaya's records say construction began on April 20, 1930.
- Who built the Kakutaya Zashiki Storehouse in Toyoma?
- According to Kakutaya, Yamada Takeshiro, head of the Yamagun branch of the Yamada family, with Sato Tadahiro as master carpenter. It is registered under the main line's name, Yamada Honten.
- What is inside the Kakutaya Zashiki Storehouse?
- An 8-mat shoin-style reception room with an alcove on the upper floor. Posts and alcove frame are zelkova in clear lacquer, and the handrail, transoms and lattice fittings are lacquered too.
- Can I see inside the Kakutaya Zashiki Storehouse?
- Kakutaya says it began opening the interior in 2005. Check current arrangements with the shop before visiting (phone 0220-52-2001; closed Sundays).
- How do I get to the Kakutaya Zashiki Storehouse?
- Take the Sendai to Toyoma highway bus from Kencho Shiyakusho-mae or Sendai Station to Toyoma Meijimura. By car, the nearest exit is Tome IC on the Sanriku Expressway.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Yamada Main Store (Kakutaya) Zashiki Storehouse (旧山田本店（角田屋）座敷蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 34-1 Teraike Mikkamachi, Toyoma, Toyoma-machi, Tome City, Miyagi Prefecture, and other lots |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 4 February 2021 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 2-storey earthen storehouse, tiled roof, building area 63 m² (5.5 ken by 3 ken) |
| Owner | Not listed in the national database (Kakutaya states it acquired the building in 1966) |
| Public Access | Ask Kakutaya about interior viewing (shop closed Sundays) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Former Yamada Main Store (Kakutaya) Zashiki Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013486
- Kakutaya: About the storehouse (Japanese)
- https://kakutaya.jp/warehouse/
- Kakutaya: About Kakutaya, company history (Japanese)
- https://kakutaya.jp/about/
- Higashi Nippon Kyuko: Sendai to Toyoma line timetable (Japanese)
- https://higashinippon.co.jp/toyoma/
- Tome City Tourism Association: Access to Tome (Japanese)
- https://www.tome-city.com/pages/342/
Last verified: 2026.09.25