Former Matsui Family Villa (Ganko Rokusanen) South

The earliest dated building on the estate

The south storehouse carries the earliest firm date among the registered buildings here, 1919 (Taisho 8), a year before the main house was raised. It stands just south of the north storehouse, a compact earthen dozo of 4.8 meters along the front and 3.8 meters in depth, under a gabled roof of heavy hongawara tile. A doorway opens on the east, and windows are cut into the upper level. At roughly 18 square meters, it is the smaller of the estate's two storehouses.

Like its northern neighbor, it pairs traditional and modern methods: plastered earthen walls with a thick hachimaki band below the eaves, over a roof framed as a king-post truss. The two storehouses were built close together and read as a pair, the working core of the residence set behind the garden front.

Why it is registered

Registered nationally in 2012 with the rest of the estate, the south storehouse was listed for its part in the historic landscape. Small as it is, it matters to the whole: together with the main house and the north storehouse it forms the yashiki-gamae, the composed look of a complete residence, and its early date anchors the building chronology of the grounds.

What to look for

This is a building to read against its neighbor. Stand where both storehouses are visible and the family resemblance is clear in the plaster, the tile, and the banding below the eaves, while the difference in size tells you how each was used. The pairing rewards a moment's attention on the way through the grounds, even though the storehouse itself is modest.