The heaviest building on the forecourt
The Kamiya Family Rice Storehouse (神谷家住宅米蔵, Kamiya-ke Jūtaku Komegura) is a single-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. At 11 metres by 7.3 metres and 80 square metres of floor area, it is the largest of the four storehouses registered on this estate.
It occupies the western end of the southern boundary. The roof is gabled and tiled, with an eave extending over the east face. Below the drip course the walls are clad in black-painted boarding held by battens, and on the east face alone the lower band is finished in namako tilework, flat tiles set into the wall with raised plaster joints between them.
The Kamiya Family Rice Storehouse carries registration number 23-0293. The scale of rice handling in a Nishi-Mikawa village shows plainly in that floor area.
Built around a span
The registration criterion is contribution to the historic landscape of Japan, and this building earns it through both its exterior mass and its interior frame. Inside there are no partitions at all: one wide room, with beams trebled up in the roof structure.
Crossing 7.3 metres without an intermediate post takes depth of timber and layering. Since bales of rice load the floor rather than the frame, taking the span overhead and leaving the floor clear is the more useful arrangement. The trebled beams are what that decision looks like in practice.
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. A rice store built in the middle Meiji years belongs to a later chapter, when the household was accumulating in the modern economy.
What to look for
The namako tilework on the east face draws the eye. Flat tiles laid across the lower wall with plaster joints raised into rounded ridges protect the base from rain and splashed mud. On the Kamiya Family Rice Storehouse it appears on the east side only, which suggests a calculation about how the building would be seen from the forecourt.
The drip course is worth tracing as well. This horizontal projection divides the wall: black boarding below, plastered surface above. The seam of dark and light runs the full 11 metres and makes the building read as longer than it is.
Standing in the forecourt, the Kamiya Family Rice Storehouse fills the left of the field of view as a single heavy block. It is the most solid thing on the estate, and it sets off the lightness of the reception rooms opposite.
Visiting and access
This building is part of a private home and is not open to the public. Because it faces the inner forecourt, neither the interior nor really the exterior can be examined from the road. What can be seen is the perimeter of the estate, its main gate and fences. Photograph from the public road and 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 few, so check times in advance. Seven minutes on foot to the south lies Jozanen, a garden built by the city on the birthplace of the early Edo poet Ishikawa Jozan. Open 9:00 to 17:00 with last entry at 16:30, closed Mondays, with the following day substituted for a national holiday, and over the new year.
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Q&A
- Can I visit the Kamiya Family Rice Storehouse?
- No. It is part of a private residence, and as it faces the inner forecourt it is hard to see even from the public road.
- How large is the Kamiya Family Rice Storehouse?
- 11 metres by 7.3 metres, 80 square metres of floor area, in one storey. It is the largest of the four registered storehouses on the estate.
- What is the interior like?
- A single undivided room with beams trebled up in the roof frame, so the 7.3-metre span is crossed without any internal posts.
- What is namako tilework?
- Flat tiles fixed to a wall with the joints between them built up in rounded plaster ridges. It shields the base of a wall from rain and mud.
- When was it registered?
- On 18 April 2008, under number 23-0293, together with thirteen other buildings on the estate.
Basic Information
| Name | Kamiya Family Rice Storehouse (神谷家住宅米蔵) |
|---|---|
| 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 11 m, depth 7.3 m, floor area 80 square metres |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Not open to the public; exterior of the estate visible from the public road |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Kamiya Family Residence Rice Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00007042
- Cultural Heritage Online: Kamiya Family Residence Rice Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/119914
- 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