What the Hanya Funakoshi Family Residence West Storehouse is
The Hanya Funakoshi Family Residence West Storehouse (判屋船越家住宅西蔵, Hanya Funakoshi-ke Jūtaku Nishigura) is a late Meiji-period (1898 to 1912) earthen storehouse near the middle of the south side of the Funakoshi property in Tenjinmachi, Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 14, 2021. It is a 2-storey Dozo-zukuri building with a gabled, pantiled roof, entered at the gable end in the Tsumairi manner, with a building area of 30 square meters.
Yonago City explains that the west storehouse went up south of the garden when the garden in the middle of the property was laid out, at about the same time as the main house. It was part of the rebuilding that Seitarō Funakoshi, the eleventh head of the family, began in 1900, which makes it a storehouse planned together with the garden.
The ridge runs north to south and the door is in the north gable. To the east, beyond the rear gate, stands the late Edo east storehouse.
Why the west storehouse was registered
The Hanya Funakoshi Family Residence West Storehouse was registered as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a storehouse that makes up the property together with the east storehouse, so its value is read in combination with the second storehouse and the gate along the south edge rather than in isolation.
Yonago City treats the four Funakoshi buildings as a set that shows how a Yonago merchant house was laid out, a pattern carried over from the Edo period. In that sequence of main house in front, garden in the middle and storehouses behind, the west storehouse closes off the garden on its south side.
The namako-kabe on the north face
The feature to notice on the Hanya Funakoshi Family Residence West Storehouse is the finish of the north wall. The lower wall and the panels beneath the windows are clad in Namako-kabe: flat tiles laid in a grid with the joints built up in raised white plaster. The technique protects the wall from rain, but it is decorative as well.
The north wall is the front, with the doorway, and from the layout of the property it faces the garden. The tiling was applied to the face most likely to be seen, which shows where the builders chose to spend their effort.
Otherwise the build is close to that of the east storehouse: a dressed-stone base, earthen walls plastered in Shikkui right up to the eave soffits, and a Geya lean-to over the north door. The difference lies in the windows. The west storehouse has one window on each side except the west, three in all, compared with the single window of the east storehouse, so it admits more light and air.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs database carries photographs of the exterior and of the upper-floor roof frame.
Seeing the Hanya Funakoshi Family Residence West Storehouse
The Hanya Funakoshi Family Residence West Storehouse is within a private property and is not open to the public. Judging from the layout, the tiled north face looks inward toward the garden, so it is probably hard to see from outside.
The storehouse lies on the south edge of the property, so its back or sides may be visible from a road to the south, but this has not been confirmed. Stay on public roads and do not enter the grounds. Directions are on the Hanya Funakoshi Family Residence page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Tottori
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Hanya Funakoshi Family Residence West Storehouse
- [ Tottori Sand Dunes & Camel Riding Experience ]
Q&A
- Can I visit the Hanya Funakoshi Family Residence West Storehouse?
- No. The Hanya Funakoshi Family Residence West Storehouse is inside a private property and is not open to visitors.
- When was the Hanya Funakoshi Family Residence West Storehouse built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the late Meiji period (1898 to 1912). Yonago City says it was built at about the same time as the main house, when the garden was laid out.
- Where is the namako-kabe on the Hanya Funakoshi west storehouse?
- On the north face, around the base of the wall and under the windows. The north face is the doorway side and looks toward the garden inside the property.
- How big is the Hanya Funakoshi Family Residence West Storehouse?
- It is a 2-storey earthen storehouse with a building area of 30 square meters, almost the same size as the neighboring east storehouse at 32 square meters.
- Why is the Hanya Funakoshi west storehouse a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered on October 14, 2021, as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the country, valued as one of the two storehouses that frame the estate together.
Basic Information
| Name | Hanya Funakoshi Family Residence West Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | Tenjinmachi 2-chome 37 and other lots, Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered October 14, 2021 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Dozo-zukuri, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building area 30 m² |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | Not open (within a private property) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Hanya Funakoshi Family Residence West Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014083
- Cultural Heritage Online: Hanya Funakoshi Family Residence West Storehouse (Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/587263
- Yonago City: Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, Hanya Funakoshi Family Residence (Japanese)
- https://www.city.yonago.lg.jp/36781.htm
- Street Museum: Yonago Castle, supervised by Yonago City (Japanese)
- https://www.streetmuseum.jp/historic-site/shiro/2026/10/14/295/
Last verified: 2026.10.14
