Sato Family Residence Wooden Annex

What Is the Sato Family Residence Wooden Annex?

The Sato Family Residence Wooden Annex (佐藤家住宅木造附属屋, Satō-ke Jūtaku Mokuzō Fuzokuya) is a single-storey timber outbuilding built around 1899 in Nishidomari-cho, Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on November 5, 1997. With a tiled roof and a building area of just 17 square meters, it is the smallest of the five registered buildings at the Sato Family Residence.

The annex stands southwest of the main house and faces west onto a north-south lane. Stone Warehouse B adjoins it to the south, so the annex sits squarely between house and warehouse. A stone wall is attached, and a short wing wall was included in the registration along with the building.

The Link Between House and Warehouse

The Sato Family Residence Wooden Annex exists to connect Stone Warehouse B with the main house. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as serving as a Kuramae, the roofed space in front of a storehouse door where goods could be moved in and out without getting wet.

Seen that way, the annex makes sense. It provided a sheltered route from the house through to the warehouse, and its 17 square meters were meant for passing through and handling goods rather than for living in.

Brick Firewalls on Both Sides

Although the Sato Family Residence Wooden Annex is a timber building, its east and west outer walls are brick firewalls. The main house uses a single brick firewall on its east boundary; the annex applies the same idea to both of its long sides.

The west wall faces the lane, the east wall faces into the property. Lining the passage to the warehouse with brick on both sides suggests a clear intent: to keep fire from the street and from inside the lot away from the timber. Add the attached stone wall and this small building brings together all three of the Sato family's materials: wood, brick and stone.

Dating and Registration of the Sato Wooden Annex

The Agency dates the Sato Family Residence Wooden Annex to the same period as the main house, around 1899, based on the weathering of the bricks in its firewalls and of its timber.

It was registered as number 42-0004, under the criterion of being difficult to reproduce. Small as it is, the annex is the hinge of the property's layout, and it shows clearly how the Sato family combined timber building with brick fire protection.

Seeing the Sato Wooden Annex

The Sato Family Residence Wooden Annex is part of a private home, and its interior is not open to the public (checked September 2026). Because it faces the north-south lane, the brick firewall on its west side can be seen from the road. Look at it together with Stone Warehouse B next door and the route from house to warehouse becomes easy to picture. There is no official guidance on photography; please be considerate of the residents. Directions are on the Sato Family Residence (Nagasaki) page.