Kiwata Family Residence Storehouse

What Is the Kiwata Family Residence Storehouse?

The Kiwata Family Residence Storehouse (木綿家住宅土蔵, Kiwata-ke Jūtaku Dozō) is the storehouse at the far back of the Kiwata estate in Horidomehigashi, Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture; built in 1939, it became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 21 June 2013. It is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri building with thick earthen walls, 33 square meters in plan.

The Kiwata Family Residence Storehouse stands behind the annex with its ridge running east to west. It measures 7.3 meters along the ridge (Ketayuki) by 4.6 meters across (Harima) under a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of pantiles. It is the oldest of the four registered structures on the estate, a year older than the main house.

Iron Doors and a Western Cornice

The entrance is on the south side. It is closed by a large pair of double iron doors, and higher up, around the ceiling line, the builders added a Western-style cornice molding.

The traditional storehouse doorway is a heavy plastered earthen door set into a stepped frame. The Kiwata Family Residence Storehouse swaps that for iron and frames it with a Western profile, which gives it a distinctly Showa-era look. The outer walls are finished in white Shikkui lime plaster.

Canopies and Brackets on the East Gable

On the east gable wall of the Kiwata storehouse, a small Hisashi canopy projects at each floor level, one above the other. The Mochiokuri brackets that carry them are shaped with an unusual molded profile, a detail the Agency for Cultural Affairs picks out in its description.

Against the white gable, the two tiers of canopy and their deeply shaped brackets make a small composition of their own: practical rain covers, given more care than they strictly needed.

The storehouse is Registration No. 30-0173, listed for its contribution to the historic landscape.

Visiting

The Kiwata Family Residence Storehouse is privately owned, and neither the building nor its surroundings are open to the public. Standing at the very back of the estate, behind the annex, it cannot really be seen from the road.

The iron doors and the east-gable brackets appear in photographs in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database. On site, please stay off the private property.