A Porcelain Dealer's House, Dated to the Day
Nakaoyama Utsuwadokoro Akaigura (中尾山うつわ処赤井倉, also referred to as the Okugawa Family House) is a merchant building of 1890 at Nakaogo in Hasami, Higashisonogi District, Nagasaki Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on 18 March 2003. It stands on the right bank of the Nakao River, which runs north to south through the valley, and faces roughly west.
Most buildings of this age are dated by inference. This one is not. A wooden hamaya, the ritual arrow set in the roof structure at the ridge-raising ceremony, survives in the building, and its ink inscription gives the date as the seventeenth day of the third month of the twenty-third year of Meiji, along with the name of the client, Okugawa Toichi, and the master carpenter who did the work. Converted, that is 17 March 1890. The client was the second-generation head of a porcelain wholesaling business, and the house went up as the place where that trade was conducted.
The carpenter's name is where the records diverge. The Agency for Cultural Affairs writes it 小玉政治; the Nagasaki prefectural cultural properties database, quoting the arrow directly, writes 児玉政治. Both readings are Kodama. Which characters the brush actually laid down in 1890 is a question for someone standing under the roof with a light.
Reading the Plan: Doma, Mise, Zashiki
The registration was made under the criterion for buildings that serve as a model of design, with registration number 42-0021 in the thirty-sixth round; the registration date is 18 March 2003 and the public notice followed on 8 April. The Agency's assessment calls it a fine example of merchant architecture, and the reason lies in how legible the plan still is.
The core of the building, the moya, is eight bays long and two and a half bays deep, under an irimoya hip-and-gable roof of pantiles. Around the west and south faces runs a hiroen, a wide veranda five shaku across, roughly 1.5 metres. On the east a geya, a lean-to extension one and a half bays deep, projects out. Counting the verandas and the lean-to together with the core gives the overall dimensions recorded by the prefecture: about 16 metres by 9.3 metres. The Agency's registered floor area is 168 square metres. Walls are shinkabe, with the posts left exposed and white shikkui plaster between them, and clapboard protecting the lower part.
Inside, the building divides into three in a sequence that maps directly onto the working day of a wholesaler. The doma at the north end was the earth-floored zone where goods were handled, now boarded over and used as the shop floor. The mise in the middle, two and a half bays, was where business was transacted. The zashiki at the south end was the formal room where a buyer of consequence would be received. Timber, tatami and plaster mark out three degrees of formality without a single partition wall doing the heavy work.
Nakaogo, in the southeastern corner of Hasami, is a porcelain village and has been for centuries. The Nakao Kami Noborigama kiln site, a nationally designated historic site, lies above the settlement, and it was among the largest climbing kilns in the world when it was firing. Working potteries still operate along the same lanes. Akaigura is the building where the product of those kilns was gathered, priced and sent on.
Visiting: A Shop You Can Walk Straight Into
The building is not a museum with a rope across the entrance. It operates as Akaigura, a gallery and shop for Hasami ware run by the Okugawa Toki company, open 10:00 to 17:00 and closed on Wednesdays, with parking on site. The telephone number is 0956-85-3359. Walking in costs nothing, and you can stand in what used to be the doma, look through into the mise, and see the zashiki beyond, with pots on display in all three.
Look up in the shop for the hamaya. Look at the joinery where the hiroen meets the moya, and at the way the plaster panels sit between exposed posts on the outside. Because this is a working business rather than an exhibition, ask at the counter before photographing the interior; staff are used to the question. There is a small tearoom area if you want to sit.
The building has also been listed as a Nagasaki Prefecture landscape asset, which reflects its role in the streetscape rather than its interior. That role is easiest to appreciate on foot. Brick chimneys stand above the rooflines, back lanes run between potteries, and the Nakaoyama Koryukan community centre, reachable on 0956-85-2273, is the usual starting point for a walk. Two annual events fill the village: Oto Sai in April, timed with the cherry blossom, and Shuto Meguri in late October, both opening kilns that are normally closed and selling direct.
Getting there takes planning. From JR Arita Station a shared-taxi service runs to Nakaoyama Koryukan on a fixed timetable, hourly from 10:00 to 17:00, with advance booking required and a one-day pass; from JR Kawatana Station, on the line from Nagasaki, Saihi buses serve the town. Drivers come off the expressway at the Hasami-Arita or Ureshino interchanges. During the town's main pottery festival the shared taxi does not run, so check before relying on it.
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Q&A
- Can you go inside Nakaoyama Utsuwadokoro Akaigura?
- Yes. The building works as a Hasami ware gallery and shop, open 10:00 to 17:00 and closed Wednesdays, with free entry and parking available. Ring 0956-85-3359 to confirm, since closing days can shift around holidays and local festivals.
- How do we know exactly when Nakaoyama Utsuwadokoro Akaigura was built?
- A wooden hamaya arrow placed at the ridge-raising ceremony survives in the building with an ink inscription giving the date as 17 March 1890, together with the client Okugawa Toichi and the master carpenter's name. Very few buildings of this type carry documentary evidence that precise.
- Why was Nakaoyama Utsuwadokoro Akaigura registered as a cultural property?
- It was registered on 18 March 2003 under the criterion for buildings serving as a model of design. The three-part plan of doma, mise and zashiki survives clearly, making it a well-preserved example of Meiji-period merchant architecture in a porcelain-producing village.
- What is the difference between the registration of Akaigura and a national designation?
- Registration is a lighter form of protection than designation. Registered Tangible Cultural Properties are recorded and given support for maintenance, while designated Important Cultural Properties and National Treasures carry stricter controls. Akaigura is registered, not designated.
- What else is worth seeing near Nakaoyama Utsuwadokoro Akaigura?
- The Nakao Kami Noborigama kiln site, a nationally designated historic site, sits above the village, and working potteries line the surrounding lanes. The Nakaoyama Koryukan community centre is the usual base for walking the settlement. In April the Oto Sai festival and in late October Shuto Meguri open the kilns to visitors.
Basic Information
| Name | Nakaoyama Utsuwadokoro Akaigura |
|---|---|
| Location | 929 Nakaogo, Hasami, Higashisonogi District, Nagasaki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure), registration no. 42-0021 |
| Year Designated | Registered 18 March 2003 (36th round); public notice 8 April 2003 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, single-storey with part two storeys, tiled roof, floor area 168 sq m; core 8 bays by 2.5 bays under an irimoya roof |
| Owner | Not recorded in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database |
| Public Access | Open as a shop and gallery, 10:00-17:00, closed Wednesdays |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs — National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003335
- Cultural Heritage Online
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/149945
- Nagasaki Prefecture — Cultural Properties Database
- https://www.pref.nagasaki.jp/bunkadb/index.php/view/409
- Okugawa Toki — About Akaigura
- https://shop.okugawa-touki.jp/?mode=f1
- Town of Hasami — Transport and Access
- https://www.town.hasami.lg.jp/list00273.html
Last verified: 2026.08.20