A Storehouse Built in 1950
Akaishi Family Residence Zashiki-gura (赤石家住宅座敷蔵, Akaishi-ke Jūtaku Zashiki-gura) is a two-storey timber storehouse of 1950 in the settlement of Moriya, Chihayaakasaka Village, Osaka Prefecture, added to Japan's register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 15 May 2007 under number 27-0422. Since the property changed hands after registration, Japanese listings sometimes give it as part of the Yamada Family Residence, formerly Akaishi Family Residence (山田家住宅（旧赤石家住宅）).
The plot belongs first to the farmhouse of 1881 that occupies its northern half. The storehouse meets that building's south face at close to a right angle. Sixty-nine years separate the two.
It measures six ken along the ridge by two and a half across, roughly 10.9 by 4.5 metres, with a footprint of 51 square metres. The roof is gabled and tiled, the entrance on the long side, and the storeys are unusually tall for a building of this size.
What a Zashiki-gura Is
Japanese has several words for storehouse, and this one is specific. A kura holds rice, tools and valuables. A zashiki-gura puts formal tatami rooms inside that shell, so the building stores and receives at the same time. Wealthy farming and merchant households across western and central Japan built them, partly to keep treasured possessions in a room worth sitting in, partly to show visitors what the family could afford.
The walls follow shinkabi construction, which leaves the timber posts exposed rather than burying them under plaster. Board cladding covers the lower part of the ground floor and lime plaster the wall above. This is not dozō construction, where thick earth encases the frame for fire resistance, so on that measure the building falls short of a true strongroom. The priority was clearly the rooms rather than the vault.
Dividing the wall into a boarded base and a plastered upper field gives the long, low volume a settled look from outside.
Glass Along the Upper Floor
The feature that separates this building from an ordinary storehouse runs across its upper storey: a continuous band of sliding glass doors along the long elevation.
Sheet glass reached ordinary Japanese houses in quantity between the 1910s and the 1930s and became a standard fitting after the war. A building dated 1950 sits inside that shift. If the governing idea of a storehouse is to protect contents behind small, closable openings, this upper floor abandons it. The wall was designed to admit light and to look out over the garden.
Turn and the farmhouse presents the opposite argument, its black plaster pierced only by six small slatted windows. One plot holds a closed Meiji wall facing an open Shōwa one.
How a Postwar Building Became Heritage
Japan's registration system for Tangible Cultural Properties began in 1996 and works differently from designation, the process behind National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties. Registration casts a wider net: buildings roughly fifty years old or older go onto a national list, owners continue to occupy them, and interior work requires notification rather than permission. The point is continued use.
When the storehouse was registered in 2007 it was fifty-seven years old, part of the first generation of postwar buildings to become eligible. Structures put up in the lean years after 1945 are now treated as modern heritage, and this is one of them.
The criterion applied here is the same one used for the farmhouse: contribution to the historic landscape. Neither building was listed for singular artistic merit. Together they shape what the centre of Moriya looks like.
Closed to the Public
The whole property is a private home and no part of it is open to visitors. Osaka Cultural Properties Navi, the heritage database maintained by the Osaka Architects Association, records access simply as closed. From the public road you may glimpse a section of the storehouse roof behind the farmhouse; the elevation with the glass doors faces west into the grounds and cannot be seen from outside. Please do not enter, and do not photograph over the wall.
The same database reports that the current owners use the buildings for teaching and passing on tea ceremony, kimono dress and formal etiquette. A tatami floor lit along one side and opening toward the garden suits that purpose well. Any public opening would be announced locally rather than scheduled in advance.
Moriya lies at the centre of Chihayaakasaka, the only village remaining in Osaka Prefecture. From Tondabayashi Station on the Kintetsu Nagano Line, take a Chihaya-route bus from the south exit for about twenty minutes and alight at Chihayaakasaka Village Office or Moriya. Bus services here passed from the Kongō Bus company to a joint municipal operation in December 2023, so older timetables no longer apply and departures are infrequent.
Takemikumari Shrine, the birthplace monument for the fourteenth-century commander Kusunoki Masashige, the terraced fields of Shimo-Akasaka and the Chihayaakasaka roadside station all lie within walking range of the village centre. Anyone walking that circuit passes the house.
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Q&A
- Can I visit Akaishi Family Residence Zashiki-gura? Is the interior open?
- No. The entire property is a private residence and is closed to visitors. The storehouse stands south of the farmhouse, so only part of its roof is visible from the road. Please do not enter the grounds or photograph over the wall.
- What kind of building is Akaishi Family Residence Zashiki-gura, and what does the term mean?
- It is a storehouse containing formal tatami rooms. Unlike a plain kura for rice and tools, a zashiki-gura provides space where people can sit and guests can be received while valuables are kept nearby. Prosperous farming and merchant families built them across western and central Japan.
- When was Akaishi Family Residence Zashiki-gura built and registered?
- It was built in 1950 and entered on the national register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 15 May 2007 as number 27-0422. At registration it was fifty-seven years old, just past the fifty-year threshold that makes a building eligible.
- Why does Akaishi Family Residence Zashiki-gura have glass doors on its upper floor?
- A continuous run of sliding glass doors along the upper long elevation brings in light and opens the rooms to the garden. Sheet glass had become a common fitting by 1950, and the design departs from the older storehouse principle of small, closable openings.
- How is Akaishi Family Residence Zashiki-gura related to the main house?
- They share a plot. The storehouse abuts the south face of the farmhouse at close to a right angle. The farmhouse dates from 1881 and the storehouse from 1950, sixty-nine years apart. Both were registered on 15 May 2007, the farmhouse as 27-0421 and the storehouse as 27-0422.
Basic Information
| Name | Akaishi Family Residence Zashiki-gura (赤石家住宅座敷蔵); also listed under Yamada Family Residence, formerly Akaishi Family Residence |
|---|---|
| Location | 911-otsu Moriya, Chihayaakasaka Village, Minamikawachi District, Osaka Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structures), no. 27-0422; criterion: contributes to the historic landscape |
| Year Designated | Registered 15 May 2007 (54th round of registration) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 6 by 2.5 ken (approx. 10.9 by 4.5 m); footprint 51 m². Two-storey timber, gabled pantiled roof, entrance on the long side |
| Date Built | 1950 |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Closed. Entry to the grounds is not permitted; only part of the roof is visible from the public road |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Akaishi Family Residence Zashiki-gura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00006225
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Akaishi Family Residence Main Building
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00006224
- Osaka Cultural Properties Navi — Yamada Family Residence (formerly Akaishi Family Residence)
- https://osaka-bunkazainavi.org/bunkazai/山田家住宅（旧赤石家住宅） 主屋 座敷蔵
- Agency for Cultural Affairs — Introduction to Cultural Properties
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/
- Osaka Prefecture — List of Cultural Properties in Chihayaakasaka Village (PDF)
- https://www.pref.osaka.lg.jp/documents/26653/030chihayaakasaka.pdf
- Chihayaakasaka Village — Tourism Navi
- https://www.vill.chihayaakasaka.osaka.jp/kanko/index.html
Last verified: 2026.08.13