The storehouse that was added on
Shimozato Family Residence (Chiyokura Main House) Naka Storehouse (下郷家住宅（千代倉本家）中蔵, Shimozato-ke Jūtaku Nakakura; the family name is also transcribed Shimosato) is an 1893 earthen-walled storehouse in Narumi-cho, Midori Ward, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, entered on the national register of Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 15 August 2024.
It is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri building with a Kirizuma-zukuri roof laid in Sangawara-buki pan tiles, covering 63 square meters. The walls are plastered and boarded along the base, and the building was made to hold household goods rather than valuables or paper.
The simplest way to describe where Naka Storehouse stands is: north of the older Momiji Storehouse, and attached to it. The junction is made by dropping the roof a step, a device Japanese carpenters call otsumune, so that the two roof lines run into each other instead of standing apart. Momiji Storehouse went up in 1891; Naka Storehouse followed two years later, extending the range northward.
The compound occupies part of what was the centre of Narumi, a post station on the Tokaido highway between Edo and Kyoto. Nagoya's official tourism site describes the Shimozato Chiyokura main house as a merchant family of roughly four hundred years' standing. Naka Storehouse is the storage that family added in the Meiji era, built for the ordinary bulk of a large household.
Registered as one of a pair
Naka Storehouse was registered under the criterion for structures that contribute to the historic landscape, with register number 23-0608. It shares its registration date, 15 August 2024, with Momiji Storehouse next door, number 23-0607.
Naka Storehouse is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, registered on 15 August 2024. Registration is the lighter of Japan's two heritage systems: it records a building, requires notice before substantial alteration, and expects the owner to keep using it rather than freezing it. The registered owner here is Chiyokura Co., Ltd., and the storehouse has not been retired from service.
The Council for Cultural Affairs report of 15 March 2024 describes the two buildings together as a pair of household storehouses in the centre of the Narumi post station. Its account of Naka Storehouse begins with the junction, notes the two bays of glazed doors on the east side that continue the line of the neighbouring building, and ends by saying that the solid exteriors of the two together shape the appearance of the merchant compound. The judgement cannot be made about this building alone, and that dependence is exactly what defines it.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs entry follows the same order, placing Naka Storehouse first in relation to its neighbour and only then describing its structure. Reading either source, the building is understood as the second half of a composition rather than as a free-standing storehouse.
What to look for
Start with the roofs. Momiji Storehouse carries hongawara tiling, the heavy formal system that alternates broad pans with rounded covers. Naka Storehouse uses sangawara, the lighter single-piece pan tile developed in the eighteenth century for ordinary buildings. Two storehouses put up on one plot two years apart, roofed by different methods: the difference records how each building ranked in the household. The plaster differs too, black on the older building, plain on this one.
The east side carries a pent roof. Its two southern bays are glazed with doors that continue into Momiji Storehouse, so from the east the two buildings present one long face and the joint is easy to miss. The northern part of the same pent roof has no doors at all: it is left open, a covered earthen floor with the weather blowing through. Goods could be set down there, and work could go on in the rain. A sealed strongroom and an open working floor sit side by side under one roof, which is a practical answer rather than an architectural flourish.
Inside, the roof structure uses climbing beams that rise from a horizontal member toward the ridge, as in the older building. The detail worth knowing about Naka Storehouse is the iron rod running horizontally across the middle of the span. Thick earthen walls push outward at the gable ends, and something has to hold them in. Finding a steel tie in the roof of an 1893 storehouse is a small, precise marker of its date: traditional carpentry with an industrial component quietly added.
At 63 square meters, Naka Storehouse is noticeably smaller than the 91 square meters of its neighbour. Its lower roof, lighter tiles and reduced footprint all say the same thing. This was planned as the subordinate half of a two-building range.
Visiting
Naka Storehouse is closed to the public. Nagoya's official tourism site states that the registered storehouses beside the museum are not open, and the compound is private, so visitors should take their cue from the museum rather than treat the site as accessible.
The Chiyokura Rekishikan next door opens during its four exhibition periods a year, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with last entry at 4:00 p.m. It closes Monday through Wednesday regardless of public holidays, and closes entirely between exhibitions while the displays are changed, so the exhibition calendar decides when a visit is possible. Inside are the diaries kept by successive heads of the family and other holdings, including material connected with the poet Matsuo Basho and the painter Ike no Taiga. A memorial stone for Basho stands in the garden.
Admission is 500 yen for adults, 300 yen for high school and university students, 100 yen for elementary and junior high school students, and free for pre-school children. Cards, transport IC cards and QR code payments are all accepted. There is no parking.
Narumi Station on the Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line is the nearest station, roughly four minutes' walk from the east exit. The old Tokaido passes just east of the station, and a short walk along it reaches the reconstructed notice board site, Seigan-ji, which is the Chiyokura family temple, and the Amatsukami shrine on the site of Narumi Castle. The compound holding Naka Storehouse sits on that route through the old post town.
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Q&A
- Is Shimozato Family Residence (Chiyokura Main House) Naka Storehouse open to visitors?
- No. Naka Storehouse is closed to the public and the interior cannot be visited. The compound is private property, so follow the guidance of the adjoining Chiyokura Rekishikan, which opens 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during exhibition periods, with last entry at 4:00 p.m.
- When was Naka Storehouse built and when was it registered?
- It was built in 1893. Registration as a national tangible cultural property took effect on 15 August 2024, under register number 23-0608, the same day the adjoining Momiji Storehouse was registered.
- How is Naka Storehouse connected to Momiji Storehouse?
- It joins the north side of Momiji Storehouse with its roof dropped one step lower, an arrangement called otsumune. On the east side, two bays of glazed doors continue across both buildings, so the two elevations read as a single face.
- What is structurally distinctive about Naka Storehouse?
- Its roof frame uses climbing beams, with a horizontal iron rod tying the middle of the span to restrain the outward thrust of the thick earthen walls. An industrial tie of this kind in an 1893 storehouse is a useful marker of the building's date. The open earthen floor under the northern part of the east pent roof is another distinguishing feature.
- How do I get to Naka Storehouse?
- Take the Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line to Narumi Station and walk about four minutes from the east exit. The address is 27 Aihara-cho, Narumi-cho, Midori Ward, Nagoya. There is no car park, so travelling by rail is the practical choice.
Basic Information
| Name | Shimozato Family Residence (Chiyokura Main House) Naka Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 27 Aihara-cho and adjoining lots, Narumi-cho, Midori Ward, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 15 August 2024 (Reiwa 6) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 63 square meters; two-storey earthen-walled storehouse |
| Owner | Chiyokura Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Closed to the public. The adjoining Chiyokura Rekishikan opens during exhibition periods, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., last entry 4:00 p.m. |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Naka Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00015026
- Cultural Heritage Online, Naka Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/541194
- Council for Cultural Affairs report on registration of tangible cultural properties, 15 March 2024
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/yukei_kenzobutsu/pdf/94080301_03.pdf
- City of Nagoya, list of nationally registered cultural properties
- https://www.city.nagoya.jp/kankou/rekishi/1017268/1034462/1017208.html
- Midori Ward, Nagoya, guide to sights around Narumi
- https://www.city.nagoya.jp/midori/miryoku/1024793/1024801/1024802.html
- Nagoya Concierge, official tourism site, Chiyokura Rekishikan
- https://www.nagoya-info.jp/spot/detail/256/
Last verified: 2026.08.31