A Shipping Merchant's House on the Akasaki Coast Road
The Main House of the Shiotani Teikō Photography Memorial Museum (塩谷定好写真記念館主屋, Shiotani Teikō Shashin Kinenkan Shuoku; the photographer's name also appears in English as Teiko Shiotani) stands at Akasaki in Kotoura Town, Tottori Prefecture, was built in 1906 (Meiji 39), and was entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) on 17 November 2015.
It was put up by Shiotani Kyūjirō, the fifth head of the family, as the head office of a shipping business. The Shiotani had traded under the shop name Shioya since the middle of the Edo period. Kyūjirō's predecessor, the fourth head Magohei, worked the kitamaebune coastal routes out of Kiku Port with a vessel named Ebisu-maru, dealing in rice and marine produce, and the family eventually held fishing grounds as far away as Toyokoro in Hokkaidō. Kyūjirō himself founded Shiotani Shōten as a rice brokerage and later served as the fourth mayor of Akasaki, taking a hand in bringing the railway station to the town.
The building is timber-framed, two storeys, roofed in tile, with a floor area of 192 square metres. Its ridge runs east and west, following the old highway that traces the coast, and the front faces north toward the road. What catches the eye first is the latticework: broad, finely divided screens run across both the ground floor and the upper floor of the façade, set against white plastered walls. The Agency for Cultural Affairs appraisal singles out this frontage as an anchor of the surviving streetscape.
Behind that front is a merchant's residence of some ambition. Reception rooms were laid out on the upper floor as well as the ground floor, and the joinery uses choice decorative timbers and raden mother-of-pearl inlay. The family's own account records ten-mat guest rooms on both levels, an arrangement they describe as uncommon in this part of the San'in coast.
Registration, and What It Recognises
Registration number 31-0205 was granted in the eighty-second round of registrations, under the criterion that the building contributes to the historical landscape of the country. The wording matters. Japan runs two parallel systems for built heritage, and they are not the same thing.
Designation as an Important Cultural Property (重要文化財) or National Treasure (国宝) picks out works of the highest artistic or historical value and binds the owner to strict controls. Registration (登録有形文化財) is the lighter of the two instruments, introduced in 1996 for buildings generally at least fifty years old, and it is designed around continued use rather than preservation under glass. A registered building can be repaired, adapted and run as a business. That is precisely what happened here.
Five structures on this single plot went onto the register together on the same November day, and read as a sequence:
- Rice Storehouse (米蔵), 1872
- Gallery Wing (ギャラリー棟), 1874, originally a storehouse
- Pawn Storehouse (質蔵), 1879
- New Storehouse (新蔵), 1902
- Main House (主屋), 1906
The main house came last. By the time Kyūjirō built it, the earthen-walled storehouses ringing the plot were already thirty years old, and the new frontage was the final piece: the public face of a family that had made its money offshore and now wanted a presence on the street. The appraisal notes that the house retains its original form to an unusual degree, and a 2014 programme of repair work brought it back into service without erasing that.
One detail worth carrying to the site: the address on the national register reads Ōaza Akasaki 1561, while the museum publishes its postal address as Akasaki 1568. Both point to the same block of the Akasaki shopping street.
The House That Raised a Photographer
Shiotani Teikō was born in this house in 1899, the seventh head of the line, and he handed the family firm to others in order to photograph. He worked with a Vest Pocket Kodak, a small single-element camera that swept Japan in the Taishō era, and he became known for a soft-rendering method that involved removing the lens hood. His photograph Gyoson (Fishing Village) took first place in the inaugural monthly competition of Asahi Camera in 1926.
Recognition abroad came late and then came quickly. In 1982 his work hung in Photographie 1922–1982 at Cologne, where he received a Photokina honour; in 1988, the year of his death at eighty-nine, a solo exhibition opened at FotoFest in Houston and travelled across the United States. Prints are held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum and the Yokohama Museum of Art, among others. Kotoura Town named him an honorary citizen in 2010, and the museum opened in his birthplace on 26 April 2014.
Visitors climb the stairs and find that each upper room has been finished in a different wood. Stand in the tokonoma alcove with the mother-of-pearl work and the logic of the house becomes clear: this was a room for receiving people who mattered to the business.
The museum is open 9:00 to 16:00 as published, though a reduced schedule of 9:00 to 14:00 has been in effect for some time, so confirming the hours before travelling is sensible. Closing day is Tuesday. Admission is 300 yen for adults, free for junior high school students and younger, 200 yen per head for groups of fifteen or more, and free for members; an annual pass is also sold. There is no published rule on photography inside, so ask at reception before raising a camera. A cafe operates in the Rice Storehouse during opening hours.
Getting here is straightforward. JR Akasaki Station on the San'in Main Line is about twenty minutes on foot. Drivers can use the town car park at Kiku Port, beside the Namishigure Sandogasa sculpture, roughly thirty seconds from the entrance; large coaches cannot enter and need to contact the museum in advance. The nearest bus stop is Kōjinmachi.
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Q&A
- Where is the Main House of the Shiotani Teikō Photography Memorial Museum, and is it open to the public?
- It stands at Akasaki in Kotoura Town, Tottori Prefecture, on the old coast highway through the Akasaki shopping street. It is open to visitors as the Shiotani Teikō Photography Memorial Museum, with a closing day on Tuesday and admission of 300 yen for adults.
- When was the Main House of the Shiotani Teikō Photography Memorial Museum built, and when was it registered?
- It was built in 1906 (Meiji 39) as the head office of the Shiotani family shipping business, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) on 17 November 2015 under registration number 31-0205.
- Is the Main House of the Shiotani Teikō Photography Memorial Museum a National Treasure?
- No. It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, which is a separate and lighter category from Important Cultural Property or National Treasure designation. Registration is intended for buildings that remain in active use, and it allows repair and adaptation that stricter designation would restrict.
- How do I reach the Shiotani Teikō Photography Memorial Museum from JR Akasaki Station?
- The walk from JR Akasaki Station on the San'in Main Line takes about twenty minutes. By car, use the Kotoura town car park at Kiku Port next to the Namishigure Sandogasa sculpture, about thirty seconds away on foot. Large coaches cannot be accommodated without prior arrangement.
- What should I look for inside the Main House of the Shiotani Teikō Photography Memorial Museum?
- The lattice screens across both storeys of the north front, the reception rooms on the upper floor, the different decorative timbers used room by room, and the tokonoma alcove finished with mother-of-pearl inlay. Photography rules are not published, so check at reception first.
Basic Information
| Name | Shiotani Teikō Photography Memorial Museum Main House (塩谷定好写真記念館主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1561 Ōaza Akasaki, Kotoura Town, Tōhaku District, Tottori Prefecture (the museum publishes its address as Akasaki 1568) |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registration number 31-0205 |
| Year Designated | Registered 17 November 2015 (Heisei 27) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, two storeys, tiled roof; floor area 192 square metres. Built 1906 (Meiji 39), repaired 2014 |
| Owner | NPO Shiotani Teikō Photo Project |
| Public Access | Open as a museum. 9:00 to 16:00 as published, currently reduced to 9:00 to 14:00; closed Tuesdays; adults 300 yen |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs — National Cultural Properties Database: Shiotani Teikō Photography Memorial Museum Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010882
- Shiotani Teikō Photo Project — Museum information and registered buildings
- https://teiko.jp/museum.php
- Shiotani Teikō Photo Project — Biography and family history
- https://teiko.jp/profile.php
- Tottori Prefecture — Tottori Cultural Properties Navi
- https://db.pref.tottori.jp/bunkazainavi.nsf/bunkazai_web_view/FF1DA5EDF799B4BE49257F6C001B6120
- Kotoura Town Tourism Association
- https://www.kotoura-kankou.com/art/shiotani_teiko/
Last verified: 2026.08.21