Former Kitaokada Family Residence East Barn

What Is the Former Kitaokada Family Residence East Barn?

The Former Kitaokada Family Residence East Barn (旧北岡田家住宅東納屋, Kyū Kitaokada-ke Jūtaku Higashi Naya) is a two-storey timber outbuilding built in the late Taishō period (1919 to 1926) in Aiba, Ono Town, Ibi District, Gifu Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on November 2, 2018. It stands along the east side of the Kitaokada estate, joined to the Rice Storehouse, and has a building area of 116 square meters.

It was neither a dwelling nor a storehouse for valuables, but a workshop for the daily running of the household.

Why a Barn Was Registered

The Kitaokada East Barn holds registration number 21-0268 for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs regards it as an outbuilding essential to understanding how a large farming household actually lived.

A grand main house on its own says little about the work that kept such a family going. With the rooms where horses were stabled, miso was made and firewood was stacked still standing on the same grounds, the Former Kitaokada Family Residence can be read as a complete landowner's compound.

Three Rooms in a Row

The Former Kitaokada Family Residence East Barn has a gabled roof of Sangawara-buki pan tiles running north to south, with lean-to eaves on the east, west and north. Its walls are Shinkabe, with the posts left exposed; they are finished in Shikkui lime plaster outside and left as rough clay inside.

Three rooms follow one another from the north end:

• Stable: where the household kept its horses
• Carpenter's room: a room set aside for carpentry work
• Miso room: where soybean paste was prepared and left to mature

The lean-to on the east side served as the firewood store, keeping fuel out of the main body of the barn.

Seeing the Kitaokada East Barn

The Former Kitaokada Family Residence East Barn stands inside the grounds, so you will need to visit on one of Ono Town's opening days. Because it is joined to the Rice Storehouse, head for the southeast corner of the property and follow the buildings from there.

Ono Town's notice is silent on the barn interiors. If you want to look into the stable or the miso room, check first with the Ono Akebono Museum (0585-36-1888).