The Second Wing, Built a Year Later
The Yokoyama Kyodokan Document Storehouse (横山郷土館文庫蔵, Yokoyama Kyōdokan Bunkogura) is a two-storey stone warehouse at 2-16 Irifune-cho, Tochigi City, Tochigi Prefecture, completed in 1910 and registered as a Tangible Cultural Property on 2 September 1998. It occupies the position exactly opposite the Hemp Storehouse, with the wooden shop building between them.
A bunkogura is a storehouse for documents and valuables rather than merchandise: ledgers, deeds, records, the paper on which a merchant house depended. The Yokoyama family, who had moved from the fibre trade into banking, had more of that paper than most households in Tochigi.
Its dimensions match its counterpart almost exactly. Two storeys of stone under a tiled roof, a registered building area of 66 square metres, with local measurements giving roughly 7.2 metres of frontage and 9 metres of depth. The symmetry is the point. The Agency for Cultural Affairs entry describes the pair as forming a distinctive residential composition and streetscape, and standing on the street it is clear that the two storehouses were conceived as a single gesture even though a year separates their completion.
Where the Craftsmanship Shows
The stone is Fukaiwa-ishi, a tuff quarried at Kanuma in the same prefecture. Tuff cuts cleanly, weathers to a soft grey and resists fire, and it gave the buildings of this district their characteristic colour.
The registration commentary notes that construction here follows the Hemp Storehouse closely but with additional care in the detailing. Two points are named. The eaves are laid in brick rather than stone. And the stone used between the first and second floors differs in colour from the stone below it, a deliberate change that gives the elevation a horizontal reading it would otherwise lack. Neither move is dramatic. Both suggest a builder who had already put up one storehouse for this client and was now free to refine.
Local accounts add that the base course of both storehouses uses Iwafune-ishi, another Tochigi stone, and that red brick appears around the eaves as part of a fire-resistant construction. That combination of materials was standard practice for high-value storage in late Meiji Japan, when a single fire in a merchant quarter could take a family's records along with its stock.
The registration carries number 09-0009 and was granted under the criterion for structures contributing to the historic landscape of the country, with the gazette notice on 25 September 1998. All four Yokoyama buildings entered the register together in the thirteenth round of listings.
Approaching the Complex
Come from the south along the Uzuma River and the Document Storehouse is the wing you meet first, on the left of the shop front. Take a moment before going in. The three-part composition of stone, timber, stone is what earned this complex its place in the register, and it is easier to read from twenty metres away than from the doorstep.
Inside the museum the storehouses hold exhibits from the Yokoyama collection alongside the reconstructed shop and bank counters in the main building. Behind the residence a stroll garden opens out, with a small half-timbered annex of the Taisho era at its far edge. Individual buildings occasionally close for conservation work, so check at reception if you have come for one in particular.
The museum opens 9:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:30, and closes Mondays, or the following day when the Monday falls on a public holiday, along with the new year period. Admission is 300 yen for high school students and above, free below that, and 200 yen a head for groups of twenty or more; a disability certificate admits the holder and one carer without charge. Tochigi Station on the JR Ryomo and Tobu Nikko lines is about eighteen minutes away on foot, and the Kura-no-machi Daiichi car park about four. Ask staff before photographing; the tatami rooms and garden can also be reserved in advance, for a fee, for commemorative portraits.
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Q&A
- What is the Yokoyama Kyodokan Document Storehouse?
- It is a stone storehouse of 1910 built for the Yokoyama family's documents and valuables, standing opposite the Hemp Storehouse across the main shop building in Tochigi City. It was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 1998.
- How does the Yokoyama Kyodokan Document Storehouse differ from its twin?
- The construction is similar, but the Document Storehouse has brick-laid eaves and uses stone of a different colour between the first and second floors, refinements the registration commentary singles out.
- What stone was used for the Yokoyama Kyodokan Document Storehouse?
- Fukaiwa-ishi, a tuff from Kanuma in Tochigi Prefecture. Local sources also record Iwafune-ishi at the base of the walls and red brick around the eaves.
- Can visitors see the Yokoyama Kyodokan Document Storehouse?
- Yes. It forms part of the Yokoyama Kyodokan museum, open 9:00 to 17:00 with last entry at 16:30, closed Mondays and over the new year. Admission is 300 yen for high school students and above.
- When was the Yokoyama Kyodokan Document Storehouse registered?
- On 2 September 1998, with the gazette notice on 25 September that year, under registration number 09-0009. The other three Yokoyama buildings were registered on the same date.
Basic Information
| Name | Yokoyama Kyodokan Document Storehouse (横山郷土館文庫蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2-16 Irifune-cho, Tochigi City, Tochigi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registration no. 09-0009 |
| Year Designated | Registered 2 September 1998; gazetted 25 September 1998 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Two-storey stone construction, tiled roof, building area 66 m²; built 1910 (Meiji 43) |
| Owner | Tochigi Prefecture per the Agency for Cultural Affairs database; operated as a museum by Tochigi City |
| Public Access | Open 9:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30); closed Mondays, or the following day when Monday is a public holiday, and over the new year. Admission 300 yen (high school and above), free for junior high and younger. Tel 0282-22-0159 |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Yokoyama Kyodokan Document Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00000751
- Cultural Heritage Online: Yokoyama Kyodokan Document Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/138021
- Tochigi City Tourist Association: Yokoyama Kyodokan
- https://www.tochigi-kankou.or.jp/spot/yokoyama-kyoudokan
- Tochigi City: Yokoyama Kyodokan
- https://www.city.tochigi.lg.jp/site/tourism/16848.html
- Tochigi Tabi Net (Tochigi Prefecture Tourism Association): Yokoyama Kyodokan
- https://www.tochigiji.or.jp/spot/s3378/
Last verified: 2026.08.04