Katagiri Seiryudo Middle Storehouse

A Small, Tall Storehouse of the Kaei Era

Katagiri Seiryudo Middle Storehouse (片桐棲龍堂中ノ蔵, Katagiri Seiryūdō Naka-no-kura) is an earthen-walled storehouse at the Katagiri Seiryudo kampo pharmacy in Nishiminatocho, Sakai Ward, Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, said to date from the Kaei era (1848 to 1853) and entered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 18 October 2000. It is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri building with a tiled roof and a footprint of just 12 square metres, the smallest of the three storehouses in the compound.

It stands north-east of the Main House and west of the East Storehouse. Like its eastern neighbour it is attributed to the Kaei era by tradition; no ridge tablet or other dated record has been published.

The frame measures 2 bays by 1 and a half bays, yet rises two full storeys. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it a standard two-storey storehouse of somewhat tall proportions. The ridge runs east to west, the roof is gabled in the Kirizuma-zukuri form with Hongawarabuki tiling, and the entrance is on the long side, the arrangement called Hirairi.

Registered as a Model of Its Type

Katagiri Seiryudo Middle Storehouse and the East Storehouse were registered as exemplary of their type. They are the only two of the seven structures listed under that criterion; the other five were listed as difficult to reproduce. Its registration number is 27-0108.

The distinction is not for being unusual but for being typical. Thick earth walls against fire, a heavy tiled roof, a tiny footprint split over two floors: this is what an urban storehouse of the late Edo period looked like, and Katagiri Seiryudo Middle Storehouse keeps those standard proportions intact.

On the south side are double-leaf fireproof doors with thick plastered leaves, and in front of them a kuramae, the forecourt of a storehouse, usually given a small roof so goods could be moved in and out in wet weather.

How It Meets the Washing Area

In the early Meiji era the Washing Area was attached to the east gable of Katagiri Seiryudo Middle Storehouse, a roof spanning to the west gable of the East Storehouse with a floor of red brick beneath. The two Kaei storehouses were thus joined into one working space.

The arrangement works because the storehouse's own door faces south while its east gable forms one side of the Washing Area. As far as the plan suggests, traffic in and out of the store and the work going on beside it did not have to cross.

Visiting

Katagiri Seiryudo Middle Storehouse lies inside the property, north-east of the Main House, and cannot be entered. The compound is a private home and pharmacy; Sakai City asks visitors to view the buildings from outside only, and how much of this storehouse can be seen from the lane has not been confirmed. Photograph only from the public street. Directions are on the Katagiri Seiryudo page covering the whole compound.