What Is the Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse?
The Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse (荒木家住宅勝手蔵, Araki-ke Jūtaku Kattegura) is a two-story Dozo-zukuri earthen storehouse built in 1904 on the grounds of the Araki Family Residence in Mori, Kusu Town, Oita Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on March 26, 2015. It has a gabled roof of interlocking pan tiles and measures 6.9 meters by 4.9 meters, a building area of 34 square meters.
The Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse stands behind the inner reception room of the main house, its ridge running east to west. It is the oldest of the three registered buildings on the lot, 18 years older than the main house of 1922 on the street. Katte is an old word for the kitchen, and a kattegura is generally a storehouse for kitchen goods and household supplies, though how the Araki family actually used this one is not recorded in public sources.
Why the Kitchen Storehouse Was Registered
The Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse was registered, as number 44-0208, for contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs sums it up as a storehouse whose unusually colored lower walls catch the eye.
For a small building, the Araki kitchen storehouse shows off most of the plasterer's repertoire for a Japanese kura: a thickened Hachimaki band under the eaves, Namako-kabe lattice-work on the lower walls and a Kakegonuri stepped door. What makes it distinctive is that the lattice panels are ceramic tiles rather than ordinary roof tiles.
What to Look For
Ceramic tiles in the namako wall
The lower walls of the Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse are finished as namako-kabe. Usually this means flat roof tiles set into the wall with raised ridges of plaster along the joints, but here ceramic plates take the place of the tiles. This is the wall the Agency describes as strikingly colored: a band of glazed or fired color running along the foot of the plaster walls.
Lime plaster and the hachimaki band
Above the namako panels the walls are covered in Shikkui lime plaster, and a hachimaki band runs around the top under the eaves. The hachimaki is a thickened course of earth and plaster that seals the vulnerable eave line against fire. Framed by the band above and the tiles below, the plain plaster in between looks crisp and deliberate.
The east gable door and the Japanese roof frame
The entrance is in the east gable end, the triangular face under the roof, and it opens with a kakegonuri door: the edges of the door and its frame are built up in matching steps of plaster so that, once shut, fire and smoke find no straight path inside. The roof is carried on a traditional Wagoya frame, unlike the Western-style truss used ten years later in the sake storehouse on the same lot.
Visiting the Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse
The Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse stands at the very back of the lot, behind the inner reception room of the main house. The interior is not open, and no public or special openings could be found.
Because the main house screens it, it has not been confirmed whether the ceramic-tiled walls can be seen from the street. Please do not enter the lot. Photographs of the Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse, supplied by the Kusu Town Board of Education, can be seen on Cultural Heritage Online.
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Q&A
- When was the Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse built and registered?
- The Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse was built in 1904 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on March 26, 2015.
- How is the Japanese name of the Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse read?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives the reading Araki-ke Jūtaku Kattegura. Katte means kitchen, and kura (here gura) means storehouse.
- What is special about the walls of the Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse?
- The lower walls of the Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse are namako-kabe made with ceramic plates instead of roof tiles, which gives them an unusual color.
- How big is the Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse?
- The Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse is a two-story earthen storehouse measuring 6.9 meters by 4.9 meters, with a building area of 34 square meters.
- Can visitors see the Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse?
- The interior of the Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse is not open. It stands at the back of the lot, and whether it is visible from the street has not been confirmed.
Basic Information
| Name | Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse (荒木家住宅勝手蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 938 Mori, Kusu Town, Kusu District, Oita Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered March 26, 2015 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Two-story earthen storehouse, tiled roof, 6.9 m by 4.9 m, building area 34 m² |
| Owner | Unknown (not listed in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database) |
| Public Access | Closed to the public |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010539
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Araki Family Residence Sake Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010538
- Cultural Heritage Online: Araki Family Residence Kitchen Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/234258
- Kusu Town: Cultural Properties of Kusu Town (Japanese)
- https://www.town.kusu.oita.jp/soshiki/shakaikyoikuka/2/5/bunkazai/936.html
Last verified: 2026.10.06
