Takasagoya (Castle Town Tottori Community Center) Storehouse No. 2

The Odd One Out in the Middle

Takasagoya (Castle Town Tottori Community Center) Storehouse No. 2 (高砂屋（城下町とっとり交流館）蔵二, kura-ni) is an early-Showa earthen storehouse in Motodaiku-cho, Tottori City, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 31 July 2007.

It stands behind the main house between Storehouse No. 1 to the east and Storehouse No. 3 to the west. The building is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri storehouse, 6 metres long and 4 metres deep, with a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki tile and a footprint of 23 square metres. A lean-to Geya roof sweeps down over the front.

Of the three storehouses, Takasagoya Storehouse No. 2 is the youngest. No. 1 dates from late Meiji and No. 3 from early Meiji; No. 2 went up in the early Showa years, evidence that the family was still adding to the property well into the twentieth century.

Why It Was Registered: A Change of Direction

The registry entry highlights one thing above all: which way the building faces.

On a gabled building, the long sides parallel to the ridge are the hira and the triangular ends are the tsuma. A building entered on its long side is Hirairi; one entered at the gable end is Tsumairi. Storehouses No. 1 and No. 3 are both tsumairi and present their triangular gables to the garden. Between them, Takasagoya Storehouse No. 2 turns sideways and shows its long eaves instead.

Gable, eaves, gable: the alternation is what gives the back of the property its rhythm, and the registry describes Storehouse No. 2 as a pointed contrast to its neighbours.

The finishes follow a clear hierarchy. The lower front wall is Namako-kabe tilework; the other walls are vertical boarding and sheet iron. Care where it shows and practical protection where it does not, and you can read that decision straight off the wall surfaces.

What to Look For

Stand in the middle of the garden and take in all three storehouses together. The long eave line of No. 2 running between two gable ends is easy to overlook if you study the buildings one by one.

Walk round to the side to see the boarding and sheet-iron cladding, then compare them with the tiled front. The same building wears very different grades of finish on different faces.

Visiting Storehouse No. 2

The exterior can be seen from the garden during opening hours. The house's website gives no information on access to the interior of Takasagoya Storehouse No. 2; some of the storehouse spaces are used for exhibitions, so ask at reception if you would like to look in.

No photography policy is published. If an event or exhibition is under way in the garden, it is worth checking at reception before taking pictures.