Ichikawa Family Residence (Former Kameoka Family Villa) Storehouse

A White Storehouse at the End of the Lane

The Ichikawa Family Residence (Former Kameoka Family Villa) Storehouse (市川家住宅（旧亀岡家別荘）土蔵, Ichikawa-ke Jūtaku Dozō) is a late-Taishō-era storehouse, built between 1919 and 1926, in Tezukayama-nishi, Sumiyoshi Ward, Osaka, and was entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 15 August 2024. Its registration number is 27-0908.

It was built west of the main house as the household storehouse for a villa owned by a Senba businessman, the Kameoka family. It is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri structure with a gabled roof in Hongawarabuki tiles and a building area of 55 square metres. It was renovated in 1988.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs record lists the period field as Meiji, while the date and Western-calendar fields both give the late Taishō era, 1919 to 1926. This article follows the date fields.

The Ichikawa Family Residence storehouse sits a step below the road to its west, showing its gable end to the south and its long side to the west. The lane in front runs straight into it and stops, so the white walls close the view like a stage backdrop.

Why the Ichikawa Family Residence Storehouse Is Listed

The storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles it out as the anchor of the streetscape because it stands where the road ends.

The walls are coated in Shikkui lime plaster right up under the eaves, and the south window is protected by a plastered hood shaped like overlapping armour plates. On the east side, a covered front area opens onto a veranda of fine timber that links the storehouse to the main house. The entrance has double iron doors that swing open like a shrine cabinet, and the lintel above bears the family crest in a tortoiseshell hexagon.

Osaka City also lists the storehouse among Sumiyoshi Ward's urban landscape resources, describing it as a building that has stood through a century of residential development in Tezukayama and praising the white walls rising in a well-kept garden.

A Storehouse That Dances

The interior of the Ichikawa Family Residence storehouse has been converted into a flamenco studio while the exterior stays as it was. It is the home base of Tezukayama Studio. According to a Sumiyoshi Ward interview, flamenco dancer Ichikawa Keiko, who married into the family, laid boards on the storehouse floor, found the space ideal, and opened it in 1988 as a gallery and free studio. That is the same year the Agency for Cultural Affairs gives for the storehouse's renovation.

In the same interview she explains that footwork sounds deeper inside the storehouse. The thick walls shut out the street, sound carries well, and the plaster, brass and wooden floor feel warm. The plaster walls are covered with signatures left by visiting artists from Japan and abroad.

From outside, stand at the end of the lane and take in the whole white facade: plaster to the eaves, the armoured window hood, the tiled gable. The decorative iron lattice gate at the entrance signals the building's present life as a studio; the city's streetscape advisers note that its colour sits comfortably with the storehouse. During improvement works in fiscal 2018, the small annex in front of the storehouse (not part of the registration) was refinished in a plaster-like coat to match.

Visiting the Ichikawa Family Residence Storehouse

The Ichikawa Family Residence (Former Kameoka Family Villa) Storehouse is privately owned. There is no public opening as a cultural property and no admission fee, but the exterior can be seen from the road in front.

Because the interior is a working flamenco studio, casual visits are not possible. Tezukayama Studio offers trial lessons, and live performances have been held inside the storehouse. Conditions and schedules change, so check the studio's current information before planning.

No published photography rules could be found. This is a residential street, so photograph the exterior from the road and avoid blocking the entrance during lessons.