Morimoto Family Residence Old Storehouse

The Oldest Building on the Morimoto Estate

The Morimoto Family Residence Old Storehouse (森本家住宅古蔵, Morimoto-ke Jūtaku Furugura) is an earthen storehouse in Sakamoto, Katsuura Town, Tokushima Prefecture, built in 1809 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 26 March 2015.

It stands north of the main house, toward the west, with its door facing south. A 2-storey Dozo-zukuri building with a tiled roof and a building area of 22 square metres, the Morimoto Family Residence Old Storehouse is the earliest securely dated building on the estate.

Why It Was Registered

The Old Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs presents it as evidence of how an early modern village headman's estate was arranged.

The date matters. According to Katsuura Town, the Morimoto family served as headmen from the Bunka era (1804–1818), and 1809 falls squarely within it. This is the storehouse a family newly responsible for village taxes and records built behind its house.

In 1907, nearly a century later, the New Storehouse went up right beside it. Both are 2-storey buildings with gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roofs in round tile and a lean-to Geya over the south door, so the pair lets you compare an Edo storehouse with a Meiji one.

What to Look For

Plaster walls and the hachimaki band

The walls are finished in white Shikkui plaster, with a thick band called a hachimaki, literally a headband, running below the eaves. The extra thickness guards the vulnerable eave line against fire and gives the storehouse its crisp outline.

Board skirting

The lower walls are faced with Shitami-itabari clapboarding held by notched battens, which protects the plaster from rain splashing up from the ground.

Iron shutters

Windows on the south and west of the upper floor close with single-leaf iron doors. Inside, the floors are boarded and the walls lined with vertical planks.

Visiting the Old Storehouse

The Morimoto Family Residence Old Storehouse stands behind the main house, deep inside a private estate. No interior opening has been announced and it cannot be seen up close without entering the grounds, so please stay outside. Directions and contact details are on the Morimoto Family Residence page.