Fukui Family Stone Storehouse
- Period:
End of the 1800s (Mid-Meiji Period)
- Former Location:
Shinmyo, Kokubunji, Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture
- Designation:
Registered Tangible Cultural Property
Melding tradition and modernity, Japan and the West
This storehouse was found along the Konpira Kaido (*1) road in Kagawa Prefecture, and was donated along with an arched bridge when a prefectural route was widened. Even with its traditional yosemune-zukuri (*2) and hongawara–buki (*3) elements, it has stone walls, showing how the building melded traditional Japanese techniques with Western architecture. The walls are built from locally mined andesite. This local stone was also used for coffins during the Kofun period, a fact that lives on in the local place-name Ishibune (stone boat).
This warehouse is now a viewing room showing explanatory videos.
Interior
The interior floor is brick-paved, giving it a modern Western look. Even today, there is no misalignment in the layout, showing the excellent skills of the stonemasons of the time.
*1 Konpira Kaido: A highway connecting various areas to famous Konpira Shrine (in Kotohira, Nakatado, Kagawa Prefecture) built to serve pilgrims.
*2: Yosemune-zukuri—A type of hipped roof structure where the surfaces descend from the ridge in four directions.
*3: Hongawara–buki—A roof tiled with alternating rows of flat and round tiles.