Chojiya Store

A Thatched Teahouse on the Old Tokaido

The Chojiya Store (丁子屋店舗) is a thatched shop building of 1971 in Maruko, Suruga Ward, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture, on the old Tokaido road, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on February 17, 2022 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey timber building with a thatched roof, partly sheet iron, and a building area of 190 square metres; registration number 22-0314.

An Old Teahouse of Mariko-juku

The Chojiya Store is a long-established teahouse of Mariko-juku, facing south onto the Tokaido (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Mariko was one of the post towns on the Tokaido highway, and Chojiya has kept its shop on the road there.

The building joins a main block, built with timbers reused from neighbouring farmhouses, to the reception rooms of the Meiji-period shop that preceded it, linked through a room used for displaying historical materials (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Was Registered

The Chojiya Store was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency notes that the building takes its inspiration from Utagawa Hiroshige's print of Mariko-juku.

What to Look For

It is a single-storey hipped (yosemune) building under thatch, with a lean-to roof across the front (Agency for Cultural Affairs). At the back, a gabled reception-room wing roofed in metal joins it at right angles.

Seen from the old Tokaido, the long, low thatched roof of the Chojiya Store and the lean-to at its front recall the roadside teahouse in Hiroshige's print.

Visiting

The Chojiya Store faces the old Tokaido, so the exterior can be seen from the road. The address is Maruko 7-chome, Suruga Ward, Shizuoka City (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Check opening hours with the shop.