The tool store east of the main house
The Sezaki Family Residence North Storehouse is a mid-Meiji Dozo-zukuri storehouse in Hattori, Mabicho, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, listed as Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) on 6 August 2025.
It has 2 storeys and a floor area of 51 m², under a Kirizuma-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles with its ridge running north to south. It stands at the eastern edge of the site, east of the main house, and joins the south storehouse to form one long wall. The exterior is finished in Shikkui plaster, with a pent roof on the west face and vertical boarding protecting the lower part of the east wall.
What it held was working equipment. The south storehouse next door took tea utensils and household goods, so the two buildings divided the family's possessions by kind. The Agency for Cultural Affairs record notes repairs in 2021.
Listed for what it does to the landscape
The north storehouse was listed under the criterion for buildings that contribute to the historic landscape, the same criterion applied to the south storehouse, the front gate and the middle gate with its wall. The main house and the two teahouses qualified for the design of their interiors; these four qualified for their outward form.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs description emphasises the low height of the storehouse and the way it shapes the north-eastern corner of the site. Two storeys, but built low: the roof of the main house is never hidden behind it. Walking the eastern side of the compound, you see a long low wall and then the hip-and-gable roof rising past its end.
The arrangement has to do with water. The household moved onto raised ground after the flood of 1893, and the storehouses were set along the eastern lip of that made ground, on the side nearest the river. It is the layout of a family that intended to keep trading in a place that floods.
A storehouse with a formal room in it
The interesting thing about the north storehouse is how the inside is divided. The ground floor has an earth-floored Doma at the north end and a Zashiki with an alcove at the south. Above, the first floor is a single undivided boarded room.
Pure storage needs no alcove. Fitting part of a storehouse out as a room to sit in suggests that the place where goods were handled was also a place where people spent time. Thick-walled storehouses were built to keep fire and damp away from their contents, and they hold the summer heat off reasonably well.
From outside, the pent roof on the west and the boarded lower wall on the east are the details to look for. White plaster suffers in driving rain, so the faces that take the weather get a skirt of timber. It is maintenance rather than ornament.
Visiting
The Sezaki Family Residence North Storehouse is privately owned and closed to visitors. Standing on the eastern boundary, it is most easily seen from the levee of the Oda River; the exterior photograph in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database was taken from exactly that position.
The join with the south storehouse shows in the finish of the lower walls: vertical boarding here, Namako-kabe lattice plaster on the west face of its neighbour. The grounds cannot be entered and photography should be kept to the exterior. Access along the levee changes with flood control works, so follow the signs on site. Directions are on the Sezaki Family Residence page.
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Q&A
- Can the interior of the Sezaki Family Residence North Storehouse be visited?
- No. The building is privately owned and neither the interior nor the grounds are open.
- What was kept in the Sezaki Family Residence North Storehouse?
- Working tools and equipment. The adjoining south storehouse held tea utensils and household goods.
- Why was the Sezaki Family Residence North Storehouse registered?
- It was listed on 6 August 2025 under the criterion for contribution to the historic landscape, for the way this low storehouse shapes the north-eastern corner of the compound.
- What is inside the Sezaki Family Residence North Storehouse?
- An earth-floored section to the north and a matted room with an alcove to the south on the ground floor, with a single boarded room above.
- Where is the best place to see the Sezaki Family Residence North Storehouse?
- From the Oda River levee east of the compound, the viewpoint used for the official photograph. Access there varies with river works.
Basic Information
| Name | Sezaki Family Residence North Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 914-1 Tsujido, Hattori, Mabicho, Kurashiki, Okayama |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2025/08/06 (Reiwa 7) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Storehouse construction, 2 storeys, tile roof, building area 51 m² |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (private residence; exterior only, from outside the grounds) |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database: Sezaki Family Residence North Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00015507
- Sezaki Family Residence Main House and Other Structures (Kurashiki City Board of Education)
- https://www.city.kurashiki.okayama.jp/culture/art/1007596/1007597/1011206/1007792/1016887.html
Last verified: 2026.09.17
