Abe Family Residence Miso Storehouse

About the Abe Family Residence Miso Storehouse

The Abe Family Residence Miso Storehouse (阿部家住宅味噌蔵, Abe-ke Jūtaku Misogura) is a small two-storey clay-walled dozo storehouse built in the middle of the Meiji era (1868 to 1912) just north of the main house on the Abe family estate in Kayaba, Sasagino, Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2008.

The Abe Family Residence Miso Storehouse measures 6.2 by 4.1 metres, a building area of just 25 m², the smallest of the six storehouses on the estate. Its ridge runs north to south under a gabled Okiyane roof covered in sheet metal.

A Store Behind the Kitchen

As its name suggests, this was presumably where the household made and aged its miso, the fermented soybean paste at the heart of everyday Japanese cooking. The kitchen of the main house lies at its north-west corner, and the miso storehouse stands on the north side of the house, close to it: a store for daily provisions placed at the back door.

It is a mid-Meiji building, far older than the main house of 1953, so it has served the kitchen from this spot since the days of the earlier family house.

The Abe Family Residence Miso Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape.

Clay Walls with White Frames

The walls are left as clay, with a skirt of mortar at the base. Unlike the front and bunko storehouses, finished all over in white Shikkui plaster, this one shows its earth colour: a working building.

Only the door and window openings are outlined in white plaster. The Agency for Cultural Affairs picks this out as the accent of the exterior, and the white frames make the openings easy to read even from a distance.

The door, fitted with an iron shutter, is in the south gable. Windows open on the east side of the ground floor and the south side of the upper floor. The south gable faces the main house, so the store is entered from the household side.

Seeing the Abe Family Residence Miso Storehouse

The Abe Family Residence Miso Storehouse belongs to a private home and its interior is not open. Fukushima Prefecture's heritage list also states that interior photography is not permitted.

Small and set inside the plot north of the main house, it is hard to see from the road. Directions to the estate are on the Abe Family Residence page.