Zeitaku Mame Honpo Main Store West Storehouse

What Is the Zeitaku Mame Honpo Main Store West Storehouse?

The Zeitaku Mame Honpo Main Store West Storehouse (ぜいたく豆本舗本店西蔵, Nishigura) is a two-storey earthen-walled Dozo-zukuri storehouse from the early Meiji era at the back of the Zeitaku Mame Honpo lot in Tsunofuricho, Nara City, Nara Prefecture, and it was registered as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property on December 1, 2003.

It stands in the western corner at the rear of the lot, eave to eave with the East Storehouse. The ridge runs north to south under a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof, the door is in the gable end (Tsumairi), the roof is tiled, and the building area is 18 square metres. A small reception room built around 1951 is attached to its front.

Why the West Storehouse Was Registered

The Zeitaku Mame Honpo Main Store West Storehouse holds registration number 29-0072 and was listed as a model of good design. It is almost the same size as its neighbour and its roof base is built the same way, but the Agency for Cultural Affairs points out differences, among them a window opened in the south face of the upper floor.

Two storehouses of the same size stand side by side, each with its own wall finishes. The West Storehouse also differs from its twin in carrying a postwar reception room on its front.

Three Walls, Three Finishes at the Zeitaku Mame Honpo Main Store West Storehouse

The thing to notice on the Zeitaku Mame Honpo Main Store West Storehouse is that each wall is finished differently. The lower part of the east face is clad in Namako-kabe, flat tiles set in a diagonal grid with raised plaster joints. The lower part of the west face is boarded instead, and the rear wall is boarded from top to bottom. One small storehouse ends up with three distinct elevations.

Namako tiling and timber boarding are both common storehouse finishes in Japan; what is unusual is finding both on a single building this size. The East Storehouse, plastered white over most of its surface, looks quite different.

The upper-floor window on the south face is the difference the Agency singles out. South is the side of the courtyard and the reception room. The roof, like that of the East Storehouse, has no rafters: boards are laid straight onto the wall plates, purlins and ridge beam to take the tiles.

Visiting the Zeitaku Mame Honpo Main Store West Storehouse

The Zeitaku Mame Honpo Main Store West Storehouse stands behind the main house at the rear of the lot and cannot be seen from Sanjo-dori. We found no notice of its interior being open to visitors.

A photo record kept by volunteer supporters of the Nara Prefectural Library and Information Center includes pictures taken inside the shop in 2013, while Zeitaku Mame Honpo was still trading, showing the reception room and the West Storehouse. Today the main house in front is a convenience store, and we could not confirm if customers can reach the back. Please do not enter the rear of the property without permission.