Nishio Family Residence Room and Middle Storehouses: Two Vaults Under One Roof
West of the main hall and south of the tea house, on the Nishio family grounds at Oyamagami in Tamba-Sasayama, Hyogo, a two-storey earthen storehouse (dozo) runs north to south. It was built in the late Edo period, between the mid-eighteenth and early nineteenth century, five bays by two, gabled and tiled. Along its east face an earthen canopy (tobisashi) reaches out to shelter two separate doorways.
The two doorways are a clue to how the building works. Inside it divides into two rooms, but the division is not a partition within a single vault. These are two structurally separate storehouses standing side by side, the northern one used as a tool store (dogura). The Nishio, brewers of Homei sake since 1797 and long-standing village headmen, kept household goods and working equipment here, apart from the taller stores that held the brewery's stock.
One placed roof over both
What ties the two vaults together is a single roof. Japanese earthen storehouses often carry a separate outer roof, an oki-yane or placed roof, set above the clay walls to keep rain off them. Here one such placed roof is thrown across both storehouses as a single span, so two independent structures read from outside as one building.
Why the Storehouses Were Registered
The room and middle storehouses entered the Registered Tangible Cultural Property list in July 2004, under the criterion recognising a structure as a model of its form. That places the pair in a different bracket from the storehouse gallery nearby, which was listed for its part in the historic landscape. Registration, introduced in 1996, is a lighter framework than the designation carried by Important Cultural Property (juyo bunkazai) and National Treasure (kokuho).
The craft in the arrangement
The interest is in the joinery of the idea. A builder wanted two independent stores, each with its own walls and its own security, yet did not want two separate roofs cluttering a tight yard. The answer was the placed roof spanning both, one clean tiled plane over two vaults. The tool store to the north and its neighbour keep their separate identities inside while sharing a single silhouette outside. It is a compact solution, and the sort of everyday cleverness that the model-of-form criterion is meant to catch.
What to Look For on a Visit
Count the doors. Two doorways open under the earthen canopy on the east side, and each belongs to its own store. That pair of entrances is the outward sign of two vaults where a single building might be assumed.
Look up at the roof next. One continuous tiled span covers the whole, the placed roof doing its quiet job of holding rain off the clay walls beneath. Then notice the canopy itself, the tobisashi, a low sheltering eave over the doorways that keeps the thresholds dry as goods are carried in and out.
Set this building against the storehouse gallery across the grounds. That one was a brewery store, broad and made for stock; this pair is household storage, tighter and cleverly doubled. Seeing the two kinds together shows how a brewing family sorted its possessions, the trade's stock in one place and the home's goods in another.
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Q&A
- When were these storehouses built?
- In the late Edo period, between the mid-eighteenth and early nineteenth century. They were registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in July 2004.
- Why is it called two storehouses when it looks like one?
- Inside, it divides into two rooms that are structurally separate vaults, each with its own walls. A single placed roof spans both, so from outside they read as one building.
- What is a placed roof, or oki-yane?
- A separate outer roof set above the clay walls of an earthen storehouse to keep rain off them. Here one placed roof covers both vaults as a single span.
- What was kept in them?
- Household goods and equipment, with the northern vault used as a tool store. This is domestic storage, kept separate from the larger brewery stores that held the sake stock.
- Are these Important Cultural Properties?
- No. They are Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, a lighter category from 1996. Important Cultural Property and National Treasure are the higher, designated ranks.
Basic Information
| Name | Nishio Family Residence Room Storehouse and Middle Storehouse (Nishio-ke Jutaku Heyagura / Nakagura) |
|---|---|
| Location | 699 Oyamagami, Tamba-Sasayama City, Hyogo Prefecture |
| Category | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Registration date | 23 July 2004 (gazetted 17 August 2004) |
| Registration number | 28-0178 |
| Period | Late Edo period (1751–1829) |
| Structure | Earthen-walled store, two storeys; tile roof; floor area 40 sq m |
| Count | 1 building |
| Registration criterion | A model of design and form |
| Ownership | Private (Nishio family / Homei brewery) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database — Nishio Family Residence Room and Middle Storehouses
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00004276
- Cultural Heritage Online — Nishio Family Residence Sake Storehouse
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/189010
- Tamba-Sasayama City Tourism — Horoyoi Jokagura brewery tour
- https://tourism.sasayama.jp/course/course-145/
Last verified: 2026.07.09