What the Kawai Family Residence Inner Storehouse and Connecting Corridor Is
The Kawai Family Residence Inner Storehouse and Connecting Corridor (河合家住宅内蔵及び渡廊下, Kawai-ke Jūtaku Uchigura oyobi Watarirōka) is a small storehouse of the closing Edo decades (1830 to 1867) and the open corridor that links it to the house, in Kitayagicho, Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 7 August 2009. Storehouse and corridor are listed together as a single item.
The inner storehouse, uchigura, stands behind the retirement quarters attached to the southeast corner of the main house, with a small courtyard garden in between. Unlike the northwest storehouse out on the street, this one sits deep in the private side of the estate, which is what its name records.
The storehouse is 3.9 metres by 2.9 metres, two storeys of Dozo-zukuri earthen-walled construction, with a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof in round-and-flat Hongawarabuki tiling and a building area of 21 square metres. The corridor is timber-framed, roofed in copper sheet, and covers 5.0 square metres.
Why It Was Listed
The Kawai Family Residence Inner Storehouse and Connecting Corridor was listed for its contribution to the historic landscape. What the Agency for Cultural Affairs commentary singles out, though, is less the storehouse than the garden space the two structures create together.
The corridor has no doors or panels between its posts. It is open on both sides, a roof over a walkway and little more. Set between the courtyard garden in front of the storehouse and the back garden of the main house, it neither walls the two off nor merges them; it separates them lightly. The commentary calls the result a fine garden space.
The dating has independent support. The Kashihara City Tourism Association records that by 1859, when the ninth family head, Kawai Shokuro, was village headman and a money changer, the retirement quarters and the inner storehouse were already built. That agrees with the closing-Edo date in the national database. A small strongroom at the back of a money changer's house is an intriguing detail in its own right.
What to Look For
The interest of the Kawai Family Residence Inner Storehouse and Connecting Corridor lies in the contrast between its two parts. The storehouse is a closed box behind thick earthen walls; the corridor is an open passage of posts and roof. Closed and open sit side by side across the little garden.
At 3.9 metres by 2.9 metres the storehouse is tiny, yet it rises two storeys under a full tiled gable. The northwest storehouse on the street front runs to 11 metres. This one was evidently kept small on purpose, a private store for the family's own belongings.
The copper roof on the corridor is lighter than tile, so slender posts can carry it and the corridor stays thin in profile. Taken together with the absence of doors, it reads as a choice made to keep the view across the garden open.
Visiting
The Kawai Family Residence Inner Storehouse and Connecting Corridor lies deep in the estate, behind the retirement quarters, and cannot really be seen from any public road. Neither the buildings nor the grounds are open (checked 26 September 2026).
This is a listed property best understood without expecting to see it. Walking the Shimotsumichi past the main house, keep in mind that behind that lattice front lie a courtyard garden, a small storehouse and an open corridor; it gives a real sense of how deep a merchant house of this size ran.
Directions to the estate and the conditions for seeing it are set out on the Kawai Family Residence (Kitayagi) page.
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Q&A
- Can you visit the Kawai Family Residence Inner Storehouse and Connecting Corridor?
- No. It stands deep within the estate, the buildings and grounds are closed, and it is not visible from the public road.
- When was the Kawai Family Residence Inner Storehouse and Connecting Corridor built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the closing Edo decades (1830 to 1867). The Kashihara City Tourism Association records the inner storehouse as standing by 1859.
- How big is the storehouse of the Kawai Family Residence Inner Storehouse and Connecting Corridor?
- 3.9 metres by 2.9 metres, two storeys, with a building area of 21 square metres. The corridor covers 5.0 square metres.
- What is special about the corridor of the Kawai Family Residence Inner Storehouse and Connecting Corridor?
- It has no doors or panels between its posts and a copper-sheet roof, so it separates the courtyard garden from the back garden of the main house only lightly.
- Why are the storehouse and corridor of the Kawai Family Residence listed as one item?
- They were listed together as a single unit, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs values the garden space the two form together.
Basic Information
| Name | Kawai Family Residence Inner Storehouse and Connecting Corridor (河合家住宅内蔵及び渡廊下) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2-154-1 Kitayagicho, Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), register no. 29-0136 |
| Year Designated | Registered 2009/8/7 (Heisei 21) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Storehouse 3.9 metres by 2.9 metres, building area 21 square metres, earthen-walled, 2 storeys, gabled tiled roof. Corridor timber, copper roof, area 5.0 square metres |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Closed. Not visible from the public road. |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Kawai Family Residence Inner Storehouse and Connecting Corridor (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00007793
- Kawai Eiji Family Residence (Kashihara City Tourism Association)
- https://kashihara-kanko.or.jp/spot/detail.php?sid=S00095
Last verified: 2026.09.26
