Katagiri Seiryudo Washing Area

A Roof Between Two Storehouses

Katagiri Seiryudo Washing Area (片桐棲龍堂洗い場, Katagiri Seiryūdō Araiba) is a single-storey timber structure of the early Meiji era at the Katagiri Seiryudo kampo pharmacy in Nishiminatocho, Sakai Ward, Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, entered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 18 October 2000. It has a tiled roof and covers 51 square metres.

It is less a building in its own right than a roof over a gap. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, it spans from the east gable of the Middle Storehouse to the west gable of the East Storehouse, a timber shelter in the Shinkabe manner with posts left visible in the walls. The two storehouses are said to date from the Kaei era (1848 to 1853); in early Meiji the space between them was brought under cover.

The south side is left open, and along that edge the Brick Wall screens the space from the garden. There is no ceiling; the roof framing is exposed as finished work. The floor is local red brick laid in a herringbone pattern.

Why It Was Registered

Katagiri Seiryudo Washing Area was registered as difficult to reproduce, under number 27-0111. The Agency singles out the herringbone brick floor as what gives the space its character.

Its value lies less in design than in what it did for the household. By roofing an outdoor gap between two stores, paving it in brick and closing its south side with a wall, the family created a work space that stayed dry and was hidden from the garden. Sakai City describes exactly that: bricks laid between the Middle and East Storehouses to make a washing area, and a brick wall raised to screen it from the garden.

The name suggests water work of some kind. What was washed here, and whether it served the preparation of medicinal ingredients, is not stated in the published sources.

What to Notice

The floor is the thing. In herringbone paving, rectangular bricks are set in alternating directions so that no joint runs straight for long, a pattern generally regarded as keeping bricks from shifting on a floor that is often wet.

The Agency's note on the Brick Wall describes this floor and the wall together as fitting for Sakai, which is said to be one of the places where red brick making began in Japan. Kaei earth walls, Meiji red brick and the timber roof frame between them: three materials from two eras meet in these 51 square metres.

The East Storehouse's door is in its west gable, and its forecourt was later paved in brick. To reach that door, one passes through the Washing Area.

Visiting

Katagiri Seiryudo Washing Area lies deep in the compound between two storehouses and cannot be entered. The property is a private home and pharmacy; Sakai City asks visitors to view the buildings from outside only, and whether this structure can be seen from the lane has not been confirmed. Since the Brick Wall was built precisely to screen it from the garden, little of it is likely to be visible. Directions are on the Katagiri Seiryudo page.