Kondo Family Residence Storehouse

A Carefully Finished Farm Storehouse

The Kondo Family Residence Storehouse (近藤家住宅土蔵) is the earthen-walled storehouse of a farmstead of about 1907 in Shimoshizu Shinden, Yotsukaido City, Chiba Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on November 8, 2004 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a two-storey earthen-walled storehouse with a tiled roof and a building area of 25 square metres; registration number 12-0060.

The Storehouse Southeast of the Main House

The Kondo Family Residence Storehouse stands southeast of the main house, its ridge running north to south (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It measures 3 by 2 bays and rises two storeys under a gabled pantile roof set on the walls as a separate, raised roof (okiyane), with the entrance on the long side.

The door is on the west side, sheltered by an eave over an earth-floored strip. Below, the walls are clad in horizontal boards held by battens; above, they are finished in white lime plaster (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency dates it to about 1907. It belongs to the homestead the Kondo family built, with its main house and gate, after moving to make way for expanded army training grounds.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency registered the storehouse as a model of design, praising its careful workmanship: the doorway and the second-floor windows in both gable ends are framed, and each is closed by a pair of heavy plastered doors that slide apart.

What to Look For

Look at the openings: the framed doorway and, high in each gable end, the second-floor windows with their pairs of sliding plastered doors. The split between dark boarding below and white plaster above gives the small storehouse a crisp outline (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

The storehouse sits inside the grounds, southeast of the main house, as part of a private home. No official information on interior access was found.