Aoki Family Residence Storehouse No. 1

What Is the Aoki Family Residence Storehouse No. 1?

The Aoki Family Residence Storehouse No. 1 (青木家住宅土蔵（１）, Aokike Jūtaku Dozō Ichi) is a clay-walled storehouse built in 1915 in Mima-cho, Mima City, Tokushima Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 1998. Within the Aoki estate it is one of two storehouses recorded as having served the family's indigo production.

It is a two-storey building of Dozo-zukuri construction under a tiled roof, with a building area of 30 square metres. It stands north-west of the main house, facing the road along the north side of the property, and is joined wall to wall with Storehouse No. 2 to its west; together the pair anchor the north-west corner of the estate.

Why the Aoki Family Residence Storehouse No. 1 Was Registered

The Aoki Family Residence Storehouse No. 1 was registered on 9 October 1998 as number 36-0011, under the criterion for structures that contribute to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out its carefully finished road elevation and calls it one of the principal elements of the household layout.

Its use is the other reason it matters. The Agency describes the Aoki as a family that once farmed indigo, and records this storehouse as one used in indigo production. Making Awa indigo meant fermenting the cut leaves into a dye paste called sukumo, work that needed space for processing and storage. In 1915, then, the family's estate still made room for that trade.

At 30 square metres the Aoki Family Residence Storehouse No. 1 is the smaller of the pair; its neighbour covers 50. Its value lies less in size than in being a working building of the family business, set apart from the main house that announced the household's standing.

What to Look For at the Aoki Family Residence Storehouse No. 1: A Different Wall on Each Side

Each face of the Aoki Family Residence Storehouse No. 1 is finished differently. The Agency's description has the north and east walls sealed in Shikkui lime plaster and the south wall built as Shinkabe, with the timber posts left showing.

On the north side, the one facing the road, the lower wall is clad in Namako-kabe: square flat tiles set in a lattice, their joints raised in white plaster, forming a band beneath the plain plaster above.

Storehouse No. 2 next door carries the same tile cladding on the lower parts of its north and west walls, matching the road front of the Aoki Family Residence Storehouse No. 1. From the road the two read as one long white wall turning the corner of the estate.

Although it has two storeys, the building is kept fairly low. The Agency remarks on its modest height, which lets it sit comfortably in line with the walls and gate rather than towering over them.

Only the south face, which looks into the property, is left with exposed posts. Plaster for the faces the public sees, a plainer post-and-panel wall for the side facing home: the distinction can be read within a single building.

Seeing the Aoki Family Residence Storehouse No. 1

No public opening of the Aoki Family Residence Storehouse No. 1 interior is announced on Mima City's websites (checked 1 October 2026), so it is best to assume you will not be able to go inside.

The tile-clad north wall can be seen from the road along the north side. Follow it with your eye and look for the join with Storehouse No. 2: the short wall of the Aoki Family Residence Storehouse No. 1 gives way to its neighbour's longer face as it turns the corner. The south wall faces the inside of the estate and can only be seen if you are admitted to the grounds, for example during an event.