A Small Storehouse With a Black-Plaster Doorway
Shofuro Ichi-no-kura (松風樓一の蔵, also written Shōfūrō, the First Storehouse of Shofuro) is a two-storey earthen-walled storehouse in Fukumitsu, Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture, built in the early Showa period and listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in October 2014. It stands along the northern edge of the Shofuro site, toward the western end.
It is the smallest of the four registered structures here, with a floor area of 35 square metres. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates its construction to between 1926 and 1945 and records that it was moved to its present position around 1951. That relocation left physical evidence: the storehouse sits on a concrete foundation, which is not what a prewar kura would ordinarily have been given, and which was laid when the building was set down in its new spot.
A kura is a storehouse built for fire resistance. Thick walls of packed earth are raised around a timber frame and finished in lime plaster, producing a mass that heats slowly and resists sparks carried from neighbouring buildings. In a district as densely built as Kannon-machi, where wooden houses stood shoulder to shoulder along the street, that mattered. A restaurant inn of Shofuro's standing would have kept lacquerware, ceramics, folding screens, hanging scrolls and seasonal furnishings, none of which could be replaced quickly if the block burned.
How the Building Is Put Together
Four details in the registration record are worth reading closely, because each answers a specific problem.
The roof is described as okiyane, a set roof. Rather than bonding the roof structure to the earthen shell, the carpenter builds a separate timber roof and places it over the walls. The earthen mass can then move and dry at its own rate without cracking the roof, and the roof can be repaired or replaced without disturbing the walls beneath. The covering is pantile, laid over a gable form. Inside, the roof frame is a taruki-goya, a simple rafter structure without the tie beams and struts of a heavier assembly, which is appropriate to a building of this footprint.
The exterior walls are lime plaster, except on the north face, which is boarded vertically. Toyama sits on the Sea of Japan coast and takes heavy winter snow along with rain driven off the water. Lime plaster does not enjoy sustained wetting, so the elevation most exposed to it gets a sacrificial skin of timber that can be replaced when it fails. Reading which faces are boarded tells you which way the weather comes from.
The doorway is the piece with real character. A lean-to roof shelters the threshold area on the south side. The frame around the opening is shaped in the profile of a torii gate and finished in black lime plaster, a labour-intensive surface produced by working pigment and polished lampblack into the final coat until it takes a dark sheen. Set within it hang iron double doors. Most kura of this period close with thick hinged earthen doors; iron leaves are a different choice, and a deliberate one.
The result is a building of thirty-five square metres that concentrates a considerable amount of craft into one elevation. Standing in front of it, the black frame against the white plastered wall is the thing you see first.
The Storehouse the Restoration Plan Is Built Around
Shofuro closed permanently in 2022 after 122 years in business, and the site is not open to the public at present. What makes Ichi-no-kura worth following is its place in the plan for what comes next.
In October 2025, Koshin LLC, a company based in Fukumitsu, launched a fundraising campaign through Nanto City's hometown-tax scheme to repair the complex. The first item on its published list of works is the covered corridor, and the stated purpose of repairing it is to let visitors see the two storehouses from inside. Ichi-no-kura and its neighbour Ni-no-kura are named as the focus of that part of the project. The campaign closed on 3 January 2026 with 1,439,000 yen raised from 54 donors against a 2,700,000 yen target, and the city confirmed the money would go to the project despite the shortfall.
The two storehouses stand together at the north-west corner of the site and are entered as a pair: Ni-no-kura is reached through Ichi-no-kura's threshold area. The pairing means that the black-plastered doorway described above is the way in to both.
The site lies roughly 600 metres west of Fukumitsu Station on the JR Johana Line, eight minutes at a walking pace. Because the storehouses sit at the back of the plot along the northern boundary, they are less visible from the main street than the East Building, and a walk around the block gives a better view. Anyone hoping to see the interiors should contact Nanto City's cultural affairs division in advance, since access depends on how the repair work stands. There is no restriction on photographing from the public road.
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Q&A
- What is Shofuro Ichi-no-kura and how old is it?
- It is a two-storey earthen-walled storehouse on the Shofuro site in Fukumitsu, Nanto City. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the early Showa period, between 1926 and 1945, and records that it was moved to its current position around 1951.
- Can I go inside Shofuro Ichi-no-kura?
- Not at present. Shofuro closed in 2022. A repair project under way aims to open the connecting corridor so that Ichi-no-kura and Ni-no-kura can be viewed from inside, which would make these two storehouses the centrepiece of the visitor route. Contact Nanto City's cultural affairs division before travelling.
- What does the set roof on Shofuro Ichi-no-kura do?
- In okiyane construction the timber roof rests over the earthen shell without being bonded to it. The walls can settle and dry without cracking the roof, and the roof can be repaired independently of the walls. Ichi-no-kura's roof is gabled and covered in pantile.
- Why does Shofuro Ichi-no-kura have iron doors rather than earthen ones?
- The registration record notes iron double doors hung within a torii-shaped frame finished in black lime plaster. Storehouses of this period more commonly close with thick hinged earthen doors, so the iron leaves reflect a specific choice by the builder rather than local convention.
- How does Shofuro Ichi-no-kura relate to the other registered buildings on the site?
- Four structures are registered: the East Building and West Building of 1900, and the two storehouses. Ichi-no-kura and Ni-no-kura stand side by side at the north-west corner, and Ni-no-kura is entered through Ichi-no-kura's threshold area.
Basic Information
| Name | Shofuro Ichi-no-kura (松風樓一の蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 7471-15 Fukumitsu Aza Kawara, Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registration no. 16-0098 |
| Year Designated | 7 October 2014 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Two-storey earthen-walled construction, tiled roof, floor area 35 m² |
| Owner | Privately owned |
| Public Access | Not currently open. Repair project aims to open the storehouse interiors to visitors. Exterior visible from the street. |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Shofuro Ichi-no-kura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010134
- Cultural Heritage Online — Shofuro Ichi-no-kura
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/210057
- Toyama Cultural Heritage Database — Shofuro Ichi-no-kura
- https://toyama-bunkaisan.jp/search/2549/
- Nanto City Culture and Arts Archives — Shofuro
- https://culture-archives.city.nanto.toyama.jp/culture/bunkazai/bunkazai0247/
- Furusato Choice — Shofuro restoration project, Nanto City
- https://www.furusato-tax.jp/gcf/4700
Last verified: 2026.08.24