Kawasaki Mutsuo Family Residence North Storehouse

What Is the Kawasaki Mutsuo Family Residence North Storehouse?

The Kawasaki Mutsuo Family Residence North Storehouse (川崎睦男家住宅北蔵, Kawasaki Mutsuo-ke Jūtaku Kitagura) is an early Showa, 2-storey earthen-walled Dozo-zukuri storehouse in the northwest corner of a townhouse estate on the old Tokaido highway in Tehara, Ritto City, Shiga Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 21 April 1998. It has a tiled roof and a building area of 40 square meters.

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, it was originally a rice storehouse. Together with the detached wing it is the newest of the four registered buildings on the estate. It stands against the northwest boundary of the lot and is joined to the detached wing.

The Large Storehouse at the Back

The Kawasaki Mutsuo Family Residence North Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape, under number 25-0032. The agency calls it a principal element of the estate's layout.

It is exactly twice the size of the east storehouse by the road: 40 square meters against the east storehouse's 20 square meters. The small east storehouse shows itself to the street, while the larger North Storehouse at the back held the rice, and the difference in size follows those different roles.

The direction of the ridge matters too. The North Storehouse is a Hirairi building, with its ridge parallel to that of the main house and its entrance on the long side. The east storehouse, by contrast, turns its gable end to the highway.

A Tall Skirting and a Gently Swelling Roof

The first thing to notice on the Kawasaki Mutsuo Family Residence North Storehouse is the vertical board cladding on the lower wall. The agency describes this skirting as tall, with the boards carried well up the wall.

The roof is an Okiyane like that of the east storehouse: a separately framed roof set on the plastered body of the storehouse. Here, though, the roof has a gentle Teri-mukuri, a slight upward swell in the roof surface that looks softer than a straight pitch.

The building keeps the same method as the mid-Meiji east storehouse but changes its character through the height of the skirting and the curve of the roof. That curve is a small sign of the care taken in early Showa building, even on a storehouse at the back of the lot.

Visiting the Kawasaki Mutsuo Family Residence North Storehouse

The Kawasaki Mutsuo Family Residence North Storehouse is privately owned, and its interior is closed.

Because it stands in the northwest corner behind the main house, it can hardly be seen from the old Tokaido, and chances to see the curved roof and the tall skirting up close are limited. Please view the estate only from the public road.