An earthen-walled storehouse behind a brewer's house
Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse (西駒屋田村家住宅土蔵, Nishikomaya Tamura-ke Jūtaku Dozō) is a two-storied earthen-walled storehouse in Futagawacho, Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture, built in the late Meiji era and registered as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2014. It stands to the north of the family's main house on the old Tōkaidō, inside the grounds of a merchant household that ran a brewing business in the former post station of Futagawa-juku.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates the storehouse to the later Meiji period, between 1898 and 1912, the same span it gives for the main house, which suggests the two were raised together as a single establishment. The storehouse was built to hold the family's household goods rather than stock for the business, and its long axis runs north to south, at right angles to the highway.
The building is in Dozo-zukuri, the thick-walled, plaster-coated construction that Japanese merchants relied on to keep fire, damp and thieves away from what they valued. The Nishikomaya storehouse measures 6 Ken along the ridge by 3 ken across, roughly 10.9 meters by 5.5 meters, with a building area of 58 square meters under a tiled roof.
Why a storehouse was registered
Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse went onto the national register in 2014 under the criterion for buildings that contribute to the historic scenery of the country. Its registration number is 23-0413, the entry immediately after the main house, both recorded in the 78th round. The agency's commentary describes it as a storehouse that helps make up the layout of the residential compound, the yashiki-gamae.
That phrase is the key to its value. On its own, a 58-square-meter storehouse is a modest building. Read together with the main house to its south, it shows how a Meiji brewing family in a Tōkaidō post town organised its ground: shop and living rooms on the road, a fireproof vault for the family's belongings set back behind them. The register lists the two buildings separately, but the case for each rests on the other.
When Toyohashi City designated Nishikomaya as a Landscape Important Building in 2024, its notice covered the main house, the gate and a detached wing used partly as a warehouse. The storehouse was not among them. One of the city's criteria for that designation is that a building can be seen without difficulty from a public place, and the Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse sits behind the main house rather than on the street.
How the storehouse is built
The east side is the front. The doorway of Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse opens to the east, in a Tomae entrance bay, and it is this eastern wall that received the most careful finish. The upper part is coated in white lime plaster, the lower part in black plaster, the two zones divided cleanly at waist height. The other three sides, north, west and south, are clad in sasarako shitami, horizontal weatherboarding held in place by vertical battens notched to fit the overlapping boards. The result is a building that presents a formal plastered face in one direction and a plain, practical boarded skin everywhere else.
Inside, the frame solves a familiar problem for a storehouse of this length. A single central post picks up the beam that runs along the ridge direction, halving the span the timber has to carry across the 6-ken length. Above it, the roof is framed with noboribari, rafters that rise as sloping beams from the eaves to the ridge instead of resting on a stack of posts and purlins. The arrangement gives the loft a clear, unobstructed volume, useful when a family's chests and furniture have to be moved in and out through a single east door.
The Nishikomaya storehouse is thus both a plain utility building and a small demonstration of the carpenter's trade around 1900: economical framing, a fire-resistant skin where it counts, and cheaper timber cladding where it does not.
Visiting Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse
Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse is part of a private home and is not open to the public. There are no opening hours or admission charges, and the interior cannot be visited. Because the storehouse stands north of the main house, away from the road, only a partial view of its roofline can be expected from the old Tōkaidō; the plastered east front faces away from the street. Please do not enter the gate, the side passage or any part of the grounds to look for it.
Photography of whatever can be seen from the public road is acceptable. Keep in mind that this is a family residence: avoid aiming a camera into windows or the yard, and do not block the narrow highway, which still carries local traffic.
Access is by rail to Futagawa Station on the JR Tōkaidō Main Line. From the north exit, follow the old highway east for about 1.1 kilometers, roughly 15 minutes on foot. The main house of the Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence stands on the north side of the road, opposite the Futagawa-juku Honjin Museum, and the storehouse lies behind it to the north. Visitors who want to walk inside a comparable earthen-walled storehouse of a Tamura family property can continue east along the same road to the city-owned merchant house Komaya, whose storehouses are open; the Nishikomaya storehouse itself is not.
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Q&A
- Can I visit Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse?
- No. Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse belongs to a private home and has no public opening, admission or interior access. It stands behind the main house, north of the old Tōkaidō, so only part of its roof may be visible from the road.
- How do I get to Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse by train?
- Take the JR Tōkaidō Main Line to Futagawa Station. From the north exit, walk east along the old Tōkaidō for about 1.1 kilometers, roughly 15 minutes. The Nishikomaya main house is on the north side of the road opposite the Futagawa-juku Honjin Museum, and the storehouse is behind it.
- How big is Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse and how is it built?
- It is a two-storied earthen-walled storehouse of 6 ken by 3 ken, about 10.9 meters by 5.5 meters, with a building area of 58 square meters and a tiled roof. The east front is plastered white above and black below; the other three sides are clad in sasarako weatherboarding.
- When was Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse registered, and is the main house registered too?
- Both were registered as national Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2014, the storehouse under number 23-0413 and the main house under 23-0412. The agency dates both to the late Meiji era, between 1898 and 1912.
- Why was Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse registered if it cannot be seen from the street?
- The national register values it as part of the compound layout of a Meiji brewing household, paired with the main house on the road. The city's separate Landscape Important Building designation of 2024, which requires visibility from a public place, covers the main house, gate and detached wing but not the storehouse.
Basic Information
| Name | Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 147-1 Nakamachi, Futagawacho, Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2014 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 6 ken by 3 ken; building area 58 square meters; tiled roof |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | Not open to the public; stands behind the main house, north of the old Tōkaidō |
References
- National Cultural Heritage Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010165
- National Cultural Heritage Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010164
- Cultural Heritage Online: Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/232778
- Toyohashi City: Landscape Important Buildings and Trees
- https://www.city.toyohashi.lg.jp/45850.htm
- Toyohashi City: Futagawa-juku Landscape Formation District
- https://www.city.toyohashi.lg.jp/45844.htm
- Toyohashi City: Futagawa-juku (Toyohashi Web Encyclopedia)
- https://www.city.toyohashi.lg.jp/33980.htm
Last verified: 2026.09.02