A storehouse with plaster scrollwork
The Kamiya Family Grain Storehouse (神谷家住宅雑穀蔵, Kamiya-ke Jūtaku Zakkokugura) is a two-storey mud-walled storehouse of the middle Meiji period in Izumicho, Anjo City, Aichi Prefecture, registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 18 April 2008. It measures 9.1 metres by 4.6 metres, with a floor area of 41 square metres, and stands on the eastern boundary between the main gate and the Yokoya wing.
The roof is gabled and tiled. Black-painted boarding held by vertical battens covers the wall from below the hachimaki, the plastered band that wraps the upper part of a storehouse wall, down to the base.
Zakkoku means the grains other than rice: millet, barnyard millet, beans and the like. Keeping a separate store for them, alongside a dedicated rice store, says something about the range of what this household grew and held. The registration number of the Kamiya Family Grain Storehouse is 23-0294.
Part of the eastern elevation
The registration criterion is contribution to the historic landscape of Japan, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs commentary describes this building specifically as an important element in the eastern face of the estate.
Along that boundary stand the main gate, this storehouse, the Yokoya wing and the kettle house, from south to north. Inserting a two-storey mud-walled block among low timber structures introduces a change of height and of material into the run of wall. The black boarding unifies them; only the storehouse rises. The arrangement is unlikely to be accidental, and reads as a calculation about how the estate would look from the street.
At the centre of the compound the main house is thought to be mid-Edo in date, and holds a separate status as a City of Anjo Designated Cultural Property from 1986. National registration and municipal designation coexist within one set of walls.
What to look for
The brackets under the window hoods are the thing to find. A bracket of this kind exists to hold up a small projecting hood, and normally it is shaped by structural logic alone. On the Kamiya Family Grain Storehouse the plasterer has worked each one into a spiral. A minor member has been chosen as the place to display skill.
The reason for ornamenting a grain store at all is that this face is seen from the road. Working only on the visible surfaces follows the same reasoning as the rice storehouse, where namako tilework appears on the east side alone.
The seam where boarding meets plaster below the hachimaki is worth tracing too. A long narrow two-storey box of 9.1 by 4.6 metres, crossed by a series of horizontal lines: the elevation of the Kamiya Family Grain Storehouse is built out of those lines stacked one above another.
Visiting and access
The interior belongs to a private home and is closed to visitors. Since the building stands on the eastern boundary facing the road, however, the boarded and plastered walls can be seen from the public street, and depending on where you stand the spiral brackets under the window hoods may be visible. Photograph from the road, not into the grounds. The City of Anjo asks visitors to bear in mind that most local historic buildings are privately owned.
Take the JR Tokaido Line to Anjo or Mikawa-Anjo Station, then the city Ankuru bus on the Nanbu line to Kaminokiri or Izumi Jozanen. Buses are infrequent, so check the timetable first. Seven minutes on foot to the south is Jozanen, a garden built by the city on the birthplace of the early Edo poet Ishikawa Jozan. Open 9:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:30, closed Mondays with the following day substituted for a national holiday, and over the new year.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Aichi
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Kamiya Family Grain Storehouse
- [ Nagoya Castle & Atsuta Shrine History Tours ]
Q&A
- Can the Kamiya Family Grain Storehouse be seen?
- The interior is private, but the building faces the road on the eastern boundary, so its exterior walls are visible from the public street.
- How large is the Kamiya Family Grain Storehouse?
- 9.1 metres by 4.6 metres, 41 square metres of floor area, in two storeys under a gabled tiled roof.
- What was stored inside?
- Grains other than rice, such as millet and beans. The estate kept a separate rice storehouse, dividing the crop by type.
- What are the spiral brackets?
- Supports beneath the small hoods over the windows, modelled in plaster into a scroll form. They are decorative work placed on the elevation the public could see.
- When was it registered?
- On 18 April 2008, under number 23-0294, together with thirteen other buildings on the estate.
Basic Information
| Name | Kamiya Family Grain Storehouse (神谷家住宅雑穀蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 13 Kaminokiri, Izumicho, Anjo City, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | 2008 (Heisei 20), registered |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Frontage 9.1 m, depth 4.6 m, floor area 41 square metres |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Not open to the public; street elevation visible from the public road |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Kamiya Family Residence Grain Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00007043
- Cultural Heritage Online: Kamiya Family Residence Grain Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/153645
- City of Anjo: Historic Buildings
- https://www.city.anjo.aichi.jp/shisei/shisetsu/kyoikushisetsu/maibun-structure.html
- Anjo City Cultural Properties Catalogue: Kamiya Family Residence Main House
- https://www.katch.ne.jp/~anjomuse/bunkazai_zuroku/kamiyake_jyuutaku/index.html
- City of Anjo: Jozanen Garden
- https://www.city.anjo.aichi.jp/shisei/shisetsu/kyoikushisetsu/jozanen.html
Last verified: 2026.08.30