Kusudo Family Residence Tool Storehouse
The Kusudo Family Residence Tool Storehouse (楠戸家住宅道具蔵, Kusudo-ke Jūtaku Dōgugura) is a two-story earthen-walled storehouse from the mid-Meiji period attached to the okuzashiki reception room of the main house on the Kusudo family estate in Higashimachi, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on December 20, 1996.
The national register lists it as a two-story Dozo-zukuri structure with a tiled roof and a building area of 18 square meters, which the Agency for Cultural Affairs notes is about the same as the charcoal storehouse. Of the three storehouses lined up behind the main house, it is the one closest to the living quarters.
A dōgugura is a storehouse for household equipment, and placing one right beside the room where guests were received would have kept the things needed there close at hand. No published record, however, lists what the Kusudo Family Residence Tool Storehouse actually held.
Why the Tool Storehouse Was Registered
The Kusudo Family Residence Tool Storehouse carries registration number 33-0004 and was registered on the grounds that it would not be easy to reproduce. The Agency singles out how much more heavily it is built than the charcoal storehouse of the same size. Its footing is cut stone laid in 3 courses, and a larger share of its walls is clad in Namako-kabe tiles, which makes it look more solid than any of the other storehouses.
The Agency also praises the way that weight sits against the greenery of the courtyard garden, giving the estate a calm, settled character. The tool storehouse is a store, but it is also a building that steadies the view of the garden behind the main house.
No record explains why so much care went into such a small building, but its position offers a clue. It adjoins the okuzashiki, where guests were received, and faces the courtyard garden. A storehouse so likely to be seen by visitors may simply have been worth dressing in good stone and tile.
What to Look For: Three Courses of Stone
At the foot of the Kusudo Family Residence Tool Storehouse, the cut stone is stacked in 3 distinct courses. The rice storehouse also sits on a raised base, but this clearly stepped footing is particular to the tool storehouse, and it stands out against the simple row of long stones under the neighboring charcoal storehouse.
On the walls, the diagonal grid of namako tiles covers a wide area. With less white plaster showing and more grey tile, even an 18-square-meter storehouse looks weighty. Against the green of the garden trees, the grey and white contrast is at its sharpest.
The Kusudo family call the row of tool, charcoal and rice storehouses the sandan-gura, the three-step storehouses. The tool storehouse, touching the okuzashiki, is the first step, and the row runs on from here toward the back of the estate. Today it serves as the kitchen for atelier & salon Hashimaya, the salon in the rice storehouse.
Visiting the Tool Storehouse
The interior is not open to the public. It is in use as the salon's kitchen and is not an area for guests.
Because the storehouse faces the okuzashiki and the courtyard, it cannot be seen from Higashimachi's main street. The only chance to see its exterior is during events that open the main house and garden, which the family announces on its website.
No photography rules have been published. Directions and information on the main house openings are on the Kusudo Family Residence page.
Q&A
- Where is the Kusudo Family Residence Tool Storehouse?
- It stands on the Kusudo family estate at 1-20 Higashimachi, Kurashiki City, attached to the okuzashiki reception room of the main house. It is the closest to the house of the three storehouses in the row behind it.
- When was the Kusudo Family Residence Tool Storehouse built and registered?
- The national register dates it to the mid-Meiji period. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on December 20, 1996, together with the rice storehouse, the charcoal storehouse and the wall.
- How big is the Kusudo Family Residence Tool Storehouse, and what makes it distinctive?
- It is a two-story earthen-walled storehouse with a tiled roof and a building area of 18 square meters, about the same as the charcoal storehouse. A footing of cut stone in 3 courses and extensive namako-kabe tiling make it the most solid-looking of the three storehouses.
- What is the Kusudo Family Residence Tool Storehouse used for today?
- It serves as the kitchen for atelier & salon Hashimaya, the salon that operates in the rice storehouse.
- Can visitors see the Kusudo Family Residence Tool Storehouse?
- Its interior is not open. Because it faces the reception room and courtyard, it cannot be seen from the street, so the only chance to see it is during events that open the main house and garden.
Basic Information
| Name | Kusudo Family Residence Tool Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-20 Higashimachi, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 1996/12/20 (Heisei 8) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 18 m² |
| Owner | Kusudo Partnership (Kusudo Gomei Kaisha) |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (except during events) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Kusudo Family Residence Tool Storehouse (Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00000091
- Kurashiki City: Kusudo Family Residence, Rice Storehouse and others (Japanese)
- https://www.city.kurashiki.okayama.jp/culture/art/1007596/1007597/1011206/1007792/1007793.html
- atelier & salon Hashimaya: About the Kusudo Family Residence (Japanese)
- https://hashimaya.com/kusudo3/
- Kurashiki Tokotoko: Kusudo Family Residence (Japanese)
- https://kuratoco.com/kusudoke/
Last verified: 2026.09.24
