Where the Wool Waits
The Kuzuri Woolen Industry Raw Yarn Warehouse is a store building in Tamanoi, Kisogawa-cho, Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, built around 1948 and entered on the national list of Registered Tangible Cultural Property (buildings) on 17 August 2020. It is a single-storey timber structure with a gabled roof of cement tiles and a floor area of 56 square metres, standing at the middle of the western boundary between the warehouse and the mill.
The walls are lapped boarding and the roof rests on king-post trusses, the same framing method used in the office. Inside is one boarded-floor room with shelving set out in orderly rows. As the name states, raw yarn is still kept here.
The construction date of about 1948 falls just as postwar disruption eased and the Bishu weaving district resumed. Two sawtooth bays had been added to the mill around 1945, and rising output needed somewhere to hold the raw material.
Seventy Years in the Same Use
The registration criterion was contribution to the historic landscape, applied to nine buildings on the plot listed on the same day. The Kuzuri Woolen Industry Raw Yarn Warehouse carries registration number 23-0556.
What distinguishes this building is that it has never done anything else. Stores are the easiest buildings to repurpose, and shelving and floors are usually rebuilt as their contents change. Here that has barely happened.
The mill, this yarn store and the warehouse form a line along the western edge of the plot, sawtooth ridges running into gable ends. Ichinomiya City describes that sequence as the element that gives the western side of the site its character, so the building matters as part of a row rather than on its own.
Cement Tiles and Timber Trusses
The roof carries cement tiles rather than the fired clay pantiles used on the mill and the houses. Cheap and widely available when materials were short after the war, the same tiles cover the neighbouring warehouse. Compare the two surfaces and the difference in texture is immediate.
King-post trusses carry the roof without intermediate posts, a European method well suited to a building whose whole purpose is clear floor space. Because of it, the interior of the Kuzuri Woolen Industry Raw Yarn Warehouse is a single room where shelves can stand against the walls or out in the middle.
The floor is boarded rather than beaten earth. Raw wool takes up moisture readily, growing heavy and difficult to handle, so raising the floor answers a property of the material itself. The building is shaped by what it holds.
Visiting
The Kuzuri Woolen Industry Raw Yarn Warehouse is in daily use and is not open on a walk-in basis. The official Aichi Prefecture tourism site notes that the company sometimes accepts visitors to the production areas by prior arrangement. Telephone 0586-87-3323 at least two weeks ahead. Two or three visitors up to about ten are accepted, larger parties need discussion, and Saturdays and Sundays are non-working days. Checked on 31 August 2026.
No published photography policy could be found. Raw material is stored here, so ask when booking.
Tamanoi Station on the Meitetsu Bisai Line is about a two-minute walk. By car, allow about 15 minutes from the Ichinomiya-nishi exit of the Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway or about 25 minutes from the Ichinomiya interchange of the Meishin Expressway. Because the building sits on the western edge, the road on that side gives a view of its gable end alongside the sawtooth ridges of the mill.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Aichi
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Kuzuri Woolen Industry Raw Yarn Warehouse
- [ Nagoya Castle & Atsuta Shrine History Tours ]
Q&A
- Can I visit the Kuzuri Woolen Industry Raw Yarn Warehouse?
- It is in daily use, so there is no regular opening. Telephone 0586-87-3323 at least two weeks ahead and the company may agree to a site visit. Weekends are non-working days.
- What kind of building is the Kuzuri Woolen Industry Raw Yarn Warehouse?
- A single-storey timber building of about 1948 with a gabled cement-tile roof and a floor area of 56 square metres, its walls in lapped boarding and its roof on king-post trusses.
- Is the Kuzuri Woolen Industry Raw Yarn Warehouse still used for yarn?
- Yes. It has held raw yarn since it was built, in a single boarded-floor room lined with orderly shelving.
- When was the building registered as a cultural property?
- On 17 August 2020, as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registration number 23-0556.
- How do I get to the site?
- Tamanoi Station on the Meitetsu Bisai Line is about two minutes away on foot, and the site is roughly 15 minutes by car from the Ichinomiya-nishi expressway exit.
Basic Information
| Name | Kuzuri Woolen Industry Raw Yarn Warehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 1 Miyamae, Tamanoi, Kisogawa-cho, Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2020 |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber structure, cement-tile roof, floor area 56 square metres |
| Owner | Not disclosed (privately owned) |
| Public Access | Normally closed; visits by prior arrangement |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Kuzuri Woolen Industry Raw Yarn Warehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013409
- Cultural Heritage Online: Kuzuri Woolen Industry Raw Yarn Warehouse
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/380384
- Ichinomiya City: Cultural Properties in Ichinomiya
- https://www.city.ichinomiya.aichi.jp/katsuryokusouzou/hakubutsukan/1044092/1024202/1036232.html
- Aichi Now, official Aichi Prefecture tourism site: Kuzuri Woolen Industry Co., Ltd.
- https://aichinow.pref.aichi.jp/spots/detail/3024/
- Ichinomiya Tourism Association: Sawtooth Roofs of the Bishu Weaving District, vol. 1
- https://www.138ss.com/feature/detail/11/
Last verified: 2026.08.31