What Is the Former Shioya Demise Main House?
The Former Shioya Demise Main House (旧塩屋出店主屋, Kyū-Shioya Demise Shuoku) is a two-storey timber Machiya townhouse built around 1897 in Chizu-juku, the old post town of Chizu, Yazu District, Tottori Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 4 December 2000. It has a gabled, tiled roof with the entrance on the long side, in the Hirairi manner, and covers 163 square meters in plan.
This was the family home of the Shioya Demise, a branch of the Ishitani merchant family, and it faces west onto a short street that ends at the old Chizu Kaidō highway. The town's guide says an earlier house on the site burned in a great fire in September 1889, and the present Former Shioya Demise Main House was built after it.
Why It Was Registered: A Low Upper Storey
The Former Shioya Demise Main House was registered as a model of architectural form. The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out one feature: the upper storey on the street front is kept unusually low, which gives the house an old-fashioned look.
Although the house dates from around 1897, its street face keeps the second floor tucked down under the eaves. The town's guide likewise calls the design conservative for the end of the Meiji period and treats the row of lattice doors along the front as part of what gives Chizu-juku's streetscape its character.
The front is long. The town gives the size as 10.5 ken by 4 ken, roughly 19 by 7 meters, and the entrance opens near the middle. The agency's description calls the part north of the entrance the kamite and the part south of it the shimote.
A Boat-Bottom Ceiling Upstairs
Upstairs, the room over the street has a funazoko ceiling, raised in the center like an upturned boat hull. It buys a little headroom in a storey that is otherwise very low. The town's guide mentions several explanations for the low storey, from a shortage of long timber after the 1889 fire to an old notion that a low ceiling kept samurai from drawing their swords, without settling on any of them.
Look closely at the upstairs timbers of the Former Shioya Demise Main House and you can find reused, fire-scorched members and pieces spliced to make up length. The rebuild after the fire is written into the structure itself.
Downstairs, the tatami rooms have a Saobuchi-tenjō ceiling of thin parallel battens, but the battens run at right angles to the Tokonoma alcove instead of parallel to it, as is usual. This toko-zashi arrangement is more typical of samurai residences, and the town's guide suggests it may reflect the house's use as lodging for retainers traveling on the daimyo's procession to Edo. In the entrance area the ceiling is left open, showing the joists of the floor above.
The Alcove Room and the Glass Veranda
The eight-mat room has a full formal alcove, with display shelves on one side and a writing bay on the other. The alcove post is rosewood and the writing bay is horse chestnut, chosen for its fine grain. The writing bay looks flush with the wall at first glance, but it actually projects into the corridor behind.
On its east side the Former Shioya Demise Main House looks onto the garden across an L-shaped Engawa veranda glazed along its whole length. The doors run in a single track and slide together into one stack, much like storm shutters. The glass is the original hand-made sheet glass and could not be replaced today. From the tatami you can take in the whole garden without standing up.
The recently refitted bathroom has a coved, raised ceiling, and each of the four sides of its steam vent carries a different carved pattern. The corridor ceilings have their own small touches, so it pays to look up as you walk.
Visiting the Main House
The interior of the Former Shioya Demise Main House is open to visitors, from the tatami rooms and veranda to the upstairs room with the boat-bottom ceiling. Admission is free, and shoes come off at the entrance.
Because the veranda glass is original and irreplaceable, visitors are asked not to tap or lean on it. In winter the glazed veranda frames a snow-covered garden with the red berries of nandina showing through.
For the exterior, step back across the street. From there the low upper storey and the long run of lattice doors are easiest to read.
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Q&A
- When was the Former Shioya Demise Main House built?
- The national database dates it to around 1897. It replaced an earlier house lost in the 1889 fire; the town's guide places it in the early to middle Meiji period.
- Why is the Former Shioya Demise Main House a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered on 4 December 2000 as a model of architectural form. The agency points to its low street-front upper storey, which preserves an older townhouse look.
- Where is the boat-bottom ceiling in the Former Shioya Demise Main House?
- In the upstairs room facing the street. The ceiling rises in the center to make up for the low storey height.
- Can I go inside the Former Shioya Demise Main House?
- Yes. Entry is free and shoes are removed at the entrance. Please do not touch the original glass of the veranda doors.
- What woods are used in the alcove of the Former Shioya Demise Main House?
- The alcove post in the eight-mat room is rosewood and the writing bay is horse chestnut. The writing bay projects into the corridor behind it.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Shioya Demise Main House (旧塩屋出店主屋, Kyū-Shioya Demise Shuoku) |
|---|---|
| Location | 545 Chizu, Chizu Town, Yazu District, Tottori Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), Registration No. 31-0037 |
| Year Designated | 2000 (registered 4 December 2000) |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building area 163 square meters |
| Owner | Chizu Town |
| Public Access | Interior open (free admission, closed Wednesdays) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Former Shioya Demise Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002089
- Former Shioya Demise Main House (Cultural Heritage Online)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/193089
- Shioya Demise (Shioya Demise and Katsumi Nishikawa Film Museum, in Japanese)
- https://shioyademise.okoshi-yasu.com/shioyademise.html
- For First-Time Visitors (Shioya Demise and Katsumi Nishikawa Film Museum, in Japanese)
- https://shioyademise.okoshi-yasu.com/first.html
Last verified: 2026.09.28
