Kokawa Family Residence Storehouse

About the Kokawa Family Residence Storehouse

The Kokawa Family Residence Storehouse (粉川家住宅土蔵, Kokawa-ke Jūtaku Dozō) is a 2-storey earth-walled storehouse built in 1923 in Takabatakecho, Nara City, Nara Prefecture, and entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 7, 2008. It has a tiled roof and a building area of 38 m².

It stands with its ridge running north to south, south of the main house's kitchen wing and north of the annex. Within the Kokawa Family Residence it sits midway between the house itself and the buildings along the street.

Temple Tiles and Lean-to Roofs on Two Sides

The Kokawa Family Residence Storehouse measures 6.0 m by 4.0 m. It is a Dozo-zukuri building of two storeys under a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof laid in Hongawarabuki, the heavy tiling of alternating round and flat tiles. The main house and the annex use lighter pantiles; the storehouse, like the front gate, gets the full traditional tiling.

A Geya lean-to roof wraps around the west and south sides. Under it, the south side holds a toilet and the west side a Kuramae, the covered work area in front of the store door. More than a place to keep goods, the storehouse takes in a toilet as well and serves the household right next to the kitchen wing.

Doorway and Window Hoods

The doorway opens at the center of the west side. Windows are set on the north side of the ground floor and on the south and north sides of the upper floor, so the storehouse has openings toward both the kitchen wing and the annex.

What the Agency for Cultural Affairs calls an elaborate design is the hoods over the windows, unusually refined for a storehouse. Thick earthen walls can make a storehouse look plain; at the Kokawa storehouse the window hoods give the walls their character.

Why the Kokawa Storehouse Was Registered

The Kokawa Family Residence Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. Built in 1923 together with the main house, annex and gate, it holds its place in the layout of the estate.

Seeing the Kokawa Family Residence Storehouse

The Kokawa Family Residence Storehouse stands inside a private property and is not open to the public (checked October 2026). It sits between the annex to the south and the kitchen wing to the north and does not face the road, so little of it can be seen from outside and the window hoods are hard to make out. There is no official guidance on photography, so avoid capturing the private home. Directions to the estate are on the Kokawa Family Residence page.