Hagihara Family Residence East Storehouse

What Is the Hagihara Family Residence East Storehouse?

The Hagihara Family Residence East Storehouse (萩原家住宅東蔵) is a mid-Meiji period (1883–1897) storehouse parlor in the old post town of Katsunuma-juku, Koshu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2018.

Read Hagihara-ke jūtaku higashi-no-kura, it is the easternmost of the five Hagihara buildings on the old Koshu Kaido and stands against the earth-floored side of the East Shop and Main House. From outside it looks like a fireproof earthen storehouse, but its ground floor was built as a formal reception room, a type known as a kurazashiki or storehouse parlor.

Dated by Its Nails

The clue to the age of the East Storehouse is its nails. According to Koshu City, the West Storehouse, dated to 1880 by an ink inscription, was built with hand-forged Japanese nails, whereas the East Storehouse uses machine-made Western nails. That places the East Storehouse later, in the mid-Meiji period.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs follows this reading and gives 1883 to 1897 as its date range. It was therefore built after Hagihara Gensuke bought the eastern lot in 1881, once the Nakamatsuya business was established there.

Two Twelve-and-a-Half-Mat Rooms

The Hagihara Family Residence East Storehouse is a 2-story Dozo-zukuri building under a tiled gabled roof whose ridge runs north to south, with a building area of 104 m². Because the ridge runs at right angles to the highway, the building presents its gable end to the street.

The ground floor holds two rooms of twelve and a half tatami mats each, fitted with formal Zashiki-kazari features such as a decorative alcove. Koshu City notes that using the upper floor for storing goods and the ground floor for receiving guests is a mark of the large merchant houses, of which only a few examples survive in Katsunuma-juku.

A covered walkway leads south to a toilet and a bathroom. Having these facilities right beside the parlor shows how seriously the family treated this storehouse as a place for guests.

Hinged Windows Facing the Street

On the north gable facing the street, two windows with heavy Kannon-biraki double doors open one above the other, each under its own small roof. This thick earthen wall with its weighty doors contrasts with the fine lattice of the neighboring East Shop and Main House, and the Agency credits it with giving the street a solid, substantial character.

The East Storehouse was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation. It preserves the storehouse parlor typical of Katsunuma-juku merchants and, at the eastern end of the Hagihara frontage, gives the row of buildings a firm edge.

Visiting the East Storehouse

The Hagihara Family Residence East Storehouse is part of a private home and is normally closed. The hinged windows on the north gable can be seen from the old Koshu Kaido. The stacked windows and their small roofs read best from across the street, standing a little to the east and looking up.

Guests at a tea gathering held by the owners on October 5, 2019 were able to see the storehouse parlor. Take photos from the street and avoid the windows of the living quarters and the residents.