What Is the Former Kakihara Shoten Store and Main House?
The Former Kakihara Shoten Store and Main House (旧柿原商店店舗及び主屋, Kyū Kakihara Shōten Tenpo oyobi Shuoku) is a combined shop and residence built in 1930 for a meisen silk wholesaler in Honmachi, Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 21, 2002. It is a 2-storey timber building, partly single-storey at the rear, under a hipped roof of pantiles, with a building area of 601 m².
The building stands on a corner lot in the town center with its front turned east. Business was done at the street end and the family lived further in. Three storehouses from the same year stand behind it, and a stone wall runs along the north edge of the lot. Of the five registered structures, the store and main house is the one that faces the public.
A Front Built for the Street
Along the east front of the Former Kakihara Shoten Store and Main House runs a continuous pent roof, or Geya. Above it, the upper-floor eaves are built in the Degeta-zukuri manner: brackets project from the wall to carry an outer beam, which lets the eaves reach well out over the street. Look up from the road and you see two horizontal lines stacked one over the other, the pent roof below and the deep upper eaves above.
The openings are filled with finely slatted lattice doors. The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out that delicacy, and notes the generous use of keyaki (Japanese zelkova), a hard, strongly figured timber that merchants tended to use where customers would see it.
At 601 m², this is by far the largest of the Former Kakihara Shoten structures. The shop at the front and the living quarters behind share one roof, with a single-storey section projecting at the back.
A Landmark on the Corner
The Former Kakihara Shoten Store and Main House was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country, with registration number 11-0041. The agency's summary gives two reasons: it preserves the form of an early Shōwa merchant house well, and it acts as a landmark on a corner in the town center.
A large townhouse on a corner is seen from two streets, and a hipped roof, sloping down on all four sides, reads as a complete shape from either direction. The registration appears to value not only the design of the building itself but also the part it plays in the view of the junction.
Chichibu City's own description calls the building an example of an early modern merchant house. Both sources agree on the construction year of 1930; this article follows the agency in placing it in the early Shōwa era.
Visiting the Store and Main House
The Former Kakihara Shoten Store and Main House is the central building of Chichibu Furusatokan, and while the businesses are open you can walk into the parts used as shops. Which room holds which business can change, so check on the day.
For the exterior, stand back on the far side of the road to the east. From there the pent roof, the bracketed upper eaves and the hipped roof above fit into one view. The fineness of the lattice is better appreciated up close at the shopfront. Ask each shop before taking photographs inside. Opening hours and directions for the whole complex are on the Former Kakihara Shoten page.
Q&A
- When was the Former Kakihara Shoten Store and Main House built?
- It was built in 1930 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 21, 2002.
- What kind of building is the Former Kakihara Shoten Store and Main House?
- It is a 2-storey timber townhouse that combined a meisen wholesaler's shop with the family's residence, partly single-storey at the rear. It has a hipped, pantiled roof and a building area of 601 m².
- What should I look for at the Former Kakihara Shoten Store and Main House?
- The east-facing front: a pent roof, deep bracketed upper eaves and finely slatted lattice doors, with keyaki timber used throughout.
- Can I go inside the Former Kakihara Shoten Store and Main House?
- Yes. It houses the shops of Chichibu Furusatokan, which you can enter as a customer during business hours. The complex is closed on Wednesdays.
- Why is the Former Kakihara Shoten Store and Main House a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered for contributing to the historic landscape of the country. It preserves the form of an early Shōwa merchant house and serves as a landmark on a corner of the town center.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Kakihara Shoten Store and Main House (旧柿原商店店舗及び主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1404-4 Honmachi, Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building), Registration No. 11-0041 |
| Year Designated | Registered August 21, 2002 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2 storeys (partly 1 storey at the rear), hipped roof, pantiled; building area 601 m² |
| Owner | Chichibu City |
| Public Access | In use as Chichibu Furusatokan (closed Wednesdays) |
References
- Cultural Properties Database: Former Kakihara Shoten Store and Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00002887
- Cultural Heritage Online: Former Kakihara Shoten Store and Main House
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/115967
- Former Kakihara Shoten Store and Main House (Chichibu City, in Japanese)
- https://www.city.chichibu.lg.jp/4254.html
- Chichibu Furusatokan (Chichibu Kanko Navi, Chichibu City, in Japanese)
- https://navi.city.chichibu.lg.jp/p_sightseeingr/842/
Last verified: 2026.09.27
