A Fireproof Store Attached to the Parlour
Hisatsune Family Residence West Storehouse is a storehouse of 1924 in Kamimiyanaga, Nakatsu City, Oita Prefecture, entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2001. It covers 37 square metres.
It stands north west of the inner parlor under a hipped yosemune roof of sangawara pantiles. The walls are rendered in cement, which the Agency for Cultural Affairs likens to exposed concrete: flat, unjointed, undecorated.
A doorway at ground level on the south side connects Hisatsune Family Residence West Storehouse directly to the inner parlor, and a window sits at first floor level on the north. A store you can walk into from the parlour is a store for things taken out and put back often.
Why It Was Registered
Hisatsune Family Residence West Storehouse is registered as difficult to reproduce, one of the 4 entries on the estate in that category alongside the east storehouse, the water tower and the chimney. Brick runs through all of them.
Here the point being made is about fire. The openings are closed with heavy iron double doors, shutting off the routes by which flame travels. The building sits close to the heart of the estate, next to a timber parlour, so making the store into a box that will not burn was a necessity rather than a refinement.
The flat cement finish follows from the same reasoning. It is less a stylistic choice than the shape practicality took.
What to Look For
The openings are the thing at Hisatsune Family Residence West Storehouse. Iron double doors are the modern answer to the thick plastered doors of a traditional dozo storehouse. Instead of wrapping the leaf in clay, you face it in steel. The material changes; the purpose, keeping fire out, does not.
The first floor window on the north does the work of light and air. With the ground floor doorway opening towards the parlour on the south, cross ventilation needs an opening on the opposite face, and that is where it is.
The surface is worth a look too. A render with no relief in it hides the wall it covers. The east storehouse was handled the same way, while the storage shed and the perimeter walls leave their brick on show. Two policies, one estate.
One inconsistency should be flagged. The structural field of the Agency for Cultural Affairs record describes Hisatsune Family Residence West Storehouse as single storey brick, while the descriptive text on the same page calls it two storey timber with a hipped roof. The list published by the Nakatsu City Board of Education agrees with the description, calling it a two storey timber store. The reference to a first floor window points the same way. The structural field stands alone, and the table below follows it while noting the conflict.
Visiting
Hisatsune Family Residence West Storehouse stands inside the grounds and cannot be seen whole from the road. Its position north west of the inner parlor means part of the roof shows above the wall from the west side.
The interior is closed and there is no advertised way to see the iron doors or the storage space. The grounds cannot be entered.
From the road on the west the layers run: rear gate and brick wall, then the roof of the inner parlor, then this storehouse beyond it to the north west. The hipped roof is the clue that tells it apart from the hipped and gabled parlour.
Directions and visiting conditions are on the Hisatsune Family Residence page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Oita
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Hisatsune Family Residence West Storehouse
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Q&A
- Where is Hisatsune Family Residence West Storehouse?
- In the western part of the estate, north west of the inner parlor, to which it connects through a doorway at ground level on its south side.
- What makes Hisatsune Family Residence West Storehouse fireproof?
- The openings. Heavy iron double doors close them off, blocking the paths fire would take. The walls carry a flat cement render.
- Do the sources disagree about Hisatsune Family Residence West Storehouse?
- Yes. The structural field of the Agency for Cultural Affairs record gives single storey brick, while the description on the same page and the Nakatsu City list both say two storey timber. The table here follows the structural field.
- How big is Hisatsune Family Residence West Storehouse?
- The building area is 37 square metres, a little larger than the east storehouse at 32 square metres and far smaller than the rice storehouse at 175 square metres.
- Can Hisatsune Family Residence West Storehouse be visited?
- It lies inside the grounds, so only part of the roof is visible from the road on the west. The interior is closed and entry is not possible.
Basic Information
| Name | Hisatsune Family Residence West 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 | Single storey brick, tiled roof, building area 37 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 West Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002333
- 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
- List of Designated and Registered Cultural Properties, as of 1 August 2024 (Nakatsu City Board of Education)
- https://www.city-nakatsu.jp/doc/2024101700025/file_contents/shiteibunkazai.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.14
