What Is the Watanabe Family Residence Middle Storehouse?
The Watanabe Family Residence Middle Storehouse (渡邉家住宅中蔵, Watanabe-ke Jūtaku Nakagura) is a 2-storey clay-walled storehouse at the back of the Watanabe Sake Brewery lot beside the Seto River in Ichinomachi, Furukawa-cho, Hida City, Gifu Prefecture; built in 1804, it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 10 November 2005. It covers 53 square meters.
Of the six registered Watanabe buildings, this is the oldest. It went up 66 years before the family began brewing in 1870, when their wealth still came from money-changing and the silk trade. What they kept in it at the time is not recorded in the sources we consulted.
Why an Edo-Period Storehouse Was Registered
The Watanabe Family Residence Middle Storehouse was registered as No. 21-0064 for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs counts it among the storehouses that give the Furukawa streetscape its character.
Each of the white storehouses along the Seto River was built in a different year. With its late-Edo date, the Middle Storehouse stretches the time span of this canal-side row past two centuries, standing in line with a brewhouse of the 1880s and a guest pavilion of the 1930s.
Heavy Doors and a Floating Roof
In plan the Watanabe Family Residence Middle Storehouse is close to a square, roughly four bays on each side. On the ground floor of the west wall hangs a heavy pair of Kannon-biraki doors, thick clay-plastered leaves that swing open to either side. In a fire they were shut to seal the contents in, which makes them the working heart of any Japanese Dozo-zukuri storehouse.
At the southwest corner of the ground floor is a small earthen entry where one could step in without removing footwear. The roof framing uses Nobori-bari, sloping rafter beams, and the roof itself is an Okiyane: a separately built roof set on top of the plastered body of the storehouse, here clad in sheet metal. The walls are finished in white Shikkui lime plaster.
Nearby stands the Upper Storehouse of 1872. The two have the same building area of 53 square meters and the same west-facing double doors, so two storehouses 68 years apart in date line up with almost identical size and bearing.
Visiting the Watanabe Family Residence Middle Storehouse
The Watanabe Family Residence Middle Storehouse stands inside the brewery grounds and its interior is not open to the public. You see it from the lane along the Seto River as part of the storehouse row.
Tour information from the brewery makes no mention of this building. From the riverside lane you can make out the sheet-metal roof resting on the white plastered walls, which is the best view available without entering private ground.
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Q&A
- What is the Watanabe Family Residence Middle Storehouse?
- A 2-storey clay-walled storehouse at the back of the Watanabe Sake Brewery lot on the Seto River, covering 53 square meters, with a sheet-metal okiyane roof and white plastered walls.
- When was the Watanabe Family Residence Middle Storehouse built?
- In 1804. It is the oldest of the six registered Watanabe buildings and predates the family's sake brewing, which began in 1870.
- When was the Watanabe Family Residence Middle Storehouse registered as a cultural property?
- On 10 November 2005, as Registered Tangible Cultural Property No. 21-0064, for its contribution to the historic landscape.
- What are the features of the Watanabe Family Residence Middle Storehouse?
- The heavy double doors on the west side of the ground floor and the okiyane roof set over a frame of sloping rafter beams. There is also a small earthen entry at the southwest corner.
- Can I go inside the Watanabe Family Residence Middle Storehouse?
- No. The interior is not open, but the building can be seen from the lane along the Seto River. The brewery tour route is not published, so entry to the Middle Storehouse cannot be confirmed.
Basic Information
| Name | Watanabe Family Residence Middle Storehouse (渡邉家住宅中蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 7-3 Ichinomachi, Furukawa-cho, Hida City, Gifu Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), No. 21-0064 |
| Year Designated | Registered 10 November 2005 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 2-storey clay-walled storehouse, sheet-metal roof, building area 53 square meters |
| Owner | Not listed in the national database |
| Public Access | Interior closed (exterior visible from the street) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Watanabe Family Residence Middle Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00004971
- Cultural Heritage Online: Watanabe Family Residence Middle Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/142241
- Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Structures) (Gifu Prefecture, in Japanese)
- https://www.pref.gifu.lg.jp/page/12417.html
- History of Watanabe Sake Brewery (Watanabe Sake Brewery, in Japanese)
- https://www.sake-hourai.co.jp/watanabe/history/
- Seto River and the White-Walled Storehouses (Hida City Official Tourism Site, in Japanese)
- https://www.hida-kankou.jp/spot/278
Last verified: 2026.09.28
