A Storehouse With a Parlour Upstairs
Hisatsune Family Residence East Storehouse is a two storey building of timber and brick dating from 1924 in Kamimiyanaga, Nakatsu City, Oita Prefecture, entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2001.
It stands north west of the living quarters under a gabled kirizuma roof of sangawara pantiles. The footprint is only 32 square metres, but the building works on three levels: a strongroom at ground level, a Western style parlour above it, and a semi basement store below.
Though built of brick, the walls are finished in a mix of shikkui plaster and cement render, so no brick shows. Structure and appearance part company here, and that is the distinguishing trait of Hisatsune Family Residence East Storehouse.
Why It Was Registered
Hisatsune Family Residence East Storehouse is registered as difficult to reproduce, one of 4 entries on the estate under that criterion. The others are the west storehouse, the water tower and the chimney, and brick is common to all of them.
Structural brickwork needs both the material and the hands that know how to lay it. Neither is readily available in Japan now, and building the same thing again is effectively out of reach. The wording of the criterion points at exactly that.
There is a second reason here. Putting a Western style parlour inside a storehouse is not a combination with many parallels. The way the building was used is as unrepeatable as the way it was built.
What to Look For
The most discussed feature of Hisatsune Family Residence East Storehouse is the part that has gone. The building originally carried a lookout turret at third floor level. Nothing of it survives, but the shape of the roof and the way the ridge is finished are where you would go looking for the evidence.
The openings differ north and south. On the south face, towards the living quarters, a pair of doors at ground level swing open from the centre, the standard arrangement for a storehouse entrance. At the east end of the north face there is a separate way down into the basement.
Storehouses with a semi basement are not common. Below ground the temperature and humidity hold steady, which suits storage, but digging costs money and labour. That the family spent both says something about the household.
Two different renders were used on the walls, plaster and cement. Up close the difference in texture is obvious; from beyond the boundary wall it is not.
Visiting
Hisatsune Family Residence East Storehouse sits inside the grounds, north west of the living quarters, so no view of the whole building is available from the road. Part of the roof shows from the north side. Nothing is advertised that would let a visitor see the strongroom, the parlour or the basement.
Come round to the north and there is a position where the gabled roof reads above the line of the storage shed, ondol room and rice storehouse. The water tower rises against the north face of this storehouse, so the brick tower is a useful marker for finding it.
Photograph from the road only. Directions to the estate and the conditions for visiting are on the Hisatsune Family Residence page.
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Q&A
- How is Hisatsune Family Residence East Storehouse built?
- In timber and brick over two storeys, with a footprint of 32 square metres. A strongroom occupies the ground floor, a Western style parlour the first floor, and a semi basement store lies beneath.
- Did Hisatsune Family Residence East Storehouse really have a turret?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs records that it originally had a lookout turret at third floor level. It no longer survives.
- Why is Hisatsune Family Residence East Storehouse registered as difficult to reproduce?
- Because of the brickwork. Structural brick laying is barely practised in Japan today, so the building could not readily be made again. The west storehouse, water tower and chimney share the criterion.
- Is the brickwork of Hisatsune Family Residence East Storehouse visible?
- No. The walls are rendered in a mix of plaster and cement, so nothing from outside suggests a brick building.
- Can Hisatsune Family Residence East Storehouse be visited?
- It stands inside the grounds, so only part of the roof is visible from the road. The interior is closed and the site cannot be entered.
Basic Information
| Name | Hisatsune Family Residence East Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 3-1 Kamimiyanaga, Nakatsu City, Oita Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered on 28 August 2001 (Heisei 13) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Two storey, timber and brick, tiled roof, building area 32 square metres |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | Not open to the public; exterior viewing from public roads only |
References
- National Designated Cultural Properties Database, Hisatsune Family Residence East Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002332
- Cultural Properties of Nakatsu City (Nakatsu City)
- https://www.city-nakatsu.jp/doc/2024101700025/
- List of Nationally Designated and Selected Cultural Properties (Oita Prefecture)
- https://www.pref.oita.jp/kyoiku/tmp/bunka/post-101/1.pdf
- Cultural Heritage Online, Hisatsune Family Residence East Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/167642
Last verified: 2026.09.14
