Former Shioya Demise

What Is Former Shioya Demise?

Former Shioya Demise (旧塩屋出店, Kyū-Shioya Demise) is a merchant's residence in Chizu-juku, the old post town of Chizu, Yazu District, Tottori Prefecture; four of its structures, a main house and outer wall from around 1897 and a Western-style building and barn from around 1935, were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on 4 December 2000. Chizu Town owns the property and opens it to the public as the Shioya Demise and Katsumi Nishikawa Film Museum.

A word on the name, since it trips up English readers. Demise (出店) is Japanese, pronounced deh-mee-seh, and means a branch shop opened by a parent house. Shioya, "the salt house," was the trading name of the Ishitani family, the leading family of Chizu-juku, and Former Shioya Demise was one of its branch households. The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives the reading "kyū shioya demise" for all four entries.

A Branch of the Ishitani Family

According to the site's own guide, published through the Chizu Town Tourism Association, the business began in the Tenpō era (1830 to 1843). Kichibei, second son of Ishitani Denzaburō of the Shioya main house and younger brother of Denkurō, sixth head of the main line, set up shop here, and locals called it "the new branch house on the side street."

The first two generations ran a wholesale trade. The third head, Kichihei, served as village headman of Chizu-juku around 1871, and a record from 1872 lists him as district head as well. A wooden trading licence reading "kneaded oil, Kichihei" survives, and the family is said to have grown wealthy through general goods, lodging and moneylending. The fourth head, Aizō, who died in 1942, is credited with building the Western-style house behind the main house.

A great fire in September 1889 destroyed the earlier main house, and the present one was built afterwards. After the Second World War the Western-style building became a church with a resident pastor and a Sunday school for local children. Its roof and outer walls were repaired in 2000, and in 2001 it reopened as a museum for Katsumi Nishikawa, a film director born in Chizu.

Four Registrations

All four Former Shioya Demise structures were entered in the national register in the 27th round, on 4 December 2000, with official notice on the 20th of that month. They carry consecutive registration numbers, 31-0037 through 31-0040, and share one criterion: each serves as a model of architectural form. The agency's database gives these dates and sizes:

• Main House: around 1897, two-storey timber building, tiled roof, 163 square meters in plan
• Outer Wall: around 1897, timber with tiled coping, 9.9 meters long
• Western-Style Building: around 1935, two-storey timber building, tiled roof, 25 square meters
• Barn: around 1935, single-storey timber building, tiled roof, 12 square meters

Other sources date the buildings a little differently. The town's guide places the main house in the early to middle Meiji period and the Western-style building around 1930. This page follows the national database and notes the town's dates alongside.

How the Property Is Laid Out

The Former Shioya Demise lot runs a little longer east to west than north to south. The main house faces west onto a short street that ends at the old Chizu Kaidō highway, with its entrance near the middle of a long front. The outer wall starts at the main house's northwest corner, turns east at the corner of the lot, and closes off the north side.

From the southeast end of the main house a kitchen wing, the kamaya, juts out to the east. East of that stands the Western-style building, and the barn sits right against its east side. The town's guide describes the result as an L of buildings along the west and south edges of the lot.

Inside that L lies a Japanese garden, which the main house overlooks from its veranda. Standing in the garden, with the timber townhouse on one side and the small clapboard house on the other, you can see how a merchant family extended its home between the Meiji and early Shōwa years.

Visiting and Getting There

Former Shioya Demise is open to visitors free of charge, both the main house and the Western-style building. It is closed on Wednesdays and over the New Year holiday. The Chizu Town Tourism Association lists opening hours of 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., while the Tottori City tourism site and the property's own pages give a 9:00 a.m. opening, so it is worth checking with the association (0858-76-1111) before you go.

Shoes come off at the entrance, as in any Japanese home. Volunteer guides who show visitors around the property and the Chizu-juku streets can be booked through the tourism association.

The nearest station is Chizu, served by the JR Inbi Line and the Chizu Express, including limited express trains from Osaka, Kyoto, Okayama and Tottori. Former Shioya Demise is about 600 meters north-northeast of the station, roughly a 10-minute walk. There is no parking on site; drivers can use the free Chizu-juku car park beside the town sports ground.