Keywords
Architecture
Storehouses
A two-story fireproof structure of the storehouse type *dozō 土蔵 that contains a formal guest reception suite *zashiki 座敷, in the traditional residences *shoin-zukuri 書院造 on the ground floor, and a storage space on the upper floor. Examples are found in the houses of farmers and merchants in various parts of northern and eastern Japan, most notably in the area of Kitakata 喜多方 in Fukushima Prefecture. The zashikigura emerged at the end of the Edo period. Sometimes it was a freestanding structure, but sometimes it projected out from the main house *hon'ya 本屋, in which case it might also be referred to as a *kurazashiki 蔵座敷.