What Is the Former Ishibashi Family Residence East Storehouse?
The Former Ishibashi Family Residence East Storehouse (旧石橋家住宅東蔵, Kyū Ishibashi-ke Jūtaku Higashi-gura) is a late Meiji-period storehouse built between 1898 and 1912 in Serimachi, Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2013. It is a 2-storey Dozo-zukuri building with thick earthen walls and a tiled roof, covering 35 square metres.
It stands behind the East Main House, side by side with the Middle Storehouse to its west. The two are almost the same size and both have ridges running north to south. Of the compound's four storehouses, this is the one furthest east.
Why It Was Registered: One Half of a Matched Pair
The Former Ishibashi Family Residence East Storehouse has a gabled pantile roof and is entered from the gable end (Tsumairi): the triangular gable faces south, with the door set toward its western side. The walls are finished in Shikkui plaster with vertical boarding along the base. The national description points out that this finish matches the Middle Storehouse, so that the two present a unified face.
Across the south fronts runs a single open lean-to roof (Geya) shared with the Middle Storehouse. Both doors open beneath it, creating a small sheltered yard where two identical storehouses stand shoulder to shoulder behind the main house. The East Storehouse was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation, and the official description presents it in relation to its twin.
A Western Roof Frame Inside a Traditional Storehouse
What sets the East Storehouse apart is hidden under its roof. The national record identifies its roof framing as yogoya, a Western-style frame. Instead of stacking heavy horizontal beams as in traditional Japanese roofs, a yogoya carries the load on members arranged in triangles, and it spread in Japan from the Meiji era onward.
So the building looks like a textbook plastered storehouse from outside, while its roof is framed in the newer manner. Its twin next door, built in the same period and nearly identical in size, takes a different route: curved beams carry its ridge. Two storehouses that match on the outside turn out to be framed in two different ways, a reminder that builders working in the same compound at the same time did not settle on a single method.
The East Storehouse covers 35 square metres and the Middle Storehouse 34 square metres, a difference of just 1 square metre.
Seeing the Former Ishibashi Family Residence East Storehouse
The Former Ishibashi Family Residence East Storehouse stands deep inside the plot, and neither the building nor the yard in front of it is open to the public. From the street it is screened by the East Main House, and the roof frame is inside the building in any case.
The photo gallery on the Agency for Cultural Affairs database page shows the storehouse beside its twin, with the shared lean-to roof. Directions and viewing conditions for the whole compound are on the Former Ishibashi Family Residence page.
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Q&A
- When was the Former Ishibashi Family Residence East Storehouse built and registered?
- It dates from the late Meiji period, between 1898 and 1912, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on June 21, 2013.
- What is special about the roof of the Former Ishibashi Family Residence East Storehouse?
- Its roof is framed in the Western style (yogoya), with members arranged in triangles, even though the storehouse looks entirely traditional from outside.
- How does the Former Ishibashi Family Residence East Storehouse differ from the Middle Storehouse?
- They share almost the same size and wall finish, but the roof frames differ: Western framing in the East Storehouse, curved beams under the ridge in the Middle Storehouse.
- Can I see the Former Ishibashi Family Residence East Storehouse when I visit?
- The interior is closed, and the building stands at the back of the plot, so it is hard to see from the street. Photographs on the national database show the exterior.
- Where is the door of the Former Ishibashi Family Residence East Storehouse?
- On the south-facing gable end, toward its western side, beneath the open lean-to roof it shares with the Middle Storehouse.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Ishibashi Family Residence East Storehouse (旧石橋家住宅東蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 11 Serimachi, Hikone, Shiga Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | 2013 (Heisei 25) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Dozo-zukuri storehouse, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building area 35 square metres |
| Owner | Hikone City |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (inside the grounds; exterior hard to see) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Former Ishibashi Family Residence East Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009630
- Cultural Heritage Online: Former Ishibashi Family Residence East Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/269856
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Former Ishibashi Family Residence Middle Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009631
- Hikone Tourism Association: Former Ishibashi Family Residence Middle Main House
- https://www.hikoneshi.com/sightseeing/article/kyu-ishibashike-jutaku-nakashuoku
Last verified: 2026.09.25
