Yano Family Residence Grain Storehouse

About the Yano Family Residence Grain Storehouse

The Yano Family Residence Grain Storehouse (箟家住宅穀物蔵, Yano-ke Jūtaku Kokumotsugura) is a single-storey dozo storehouse of the late Meiji era (1898 to 1912), altered around 1918, in Gogazuka 3-chome, Itami City, Hyogo Prefecture, and was entered on the register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on March 6, 2024. It stands on the north edge of the estate between the lattice room and the charcoal barn. Its building area of 15 square meters makes it the smallest of the ten registered structures.

It was built to hold grain. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it a former grain store, so it no longer serves its original purpose. The roof is a gable in hongawara tiles, the walls are lime plaster, and the interior is a single undivided room with doors on the south and east.

Why It Was Registered

The Yano Family Residence Grain Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape of the nation, and the Agency places its value less in the building itself than in its position. Running west to east, the clothing storehouse, the lattice room and the grain storehouse form a continuous run of three plastered buildings with ridges at different heights, and it is that run which the Agency credits with shaping the north side of the estate.

Only the grain storehouse among the three has a single storey; the two to its west have two. Placing a small one-storey building at the east end gives the roofline a clear step before it meets the pantiled charcoal barn. The row of three ends with this low building.

Note also the effort involved. A heavy hongawara roof and thick earthen walls were spent on just 15 square meters of floor. The quantity was small, but whatever grain the family kept here had to be safe from fire and damp.

What to Look For

A single lattice window

The north wall of the Yano Grain Storehouse has one projecting lattice window, set in the middle. Fewer openings mean better fire protection in an earthen storehouse, so a single window for ventilation was the minimum the builders allowed. The lattice room next door has a similar window on its north wall, but there it lit a tatami room; here it opens onto a store.

Cedar boards set high

The lower walls are clad in cedar boards and battens, and the Agency specifically notes that the boards run high. On a single-storey wall that leaves only a narrow band of white plaster under the eaves. On the two-storey neighbors the plaster fills much of the upper wall, so the same materials give quite a different look.

Two doors for one room

A single room with two doors is unusual. The south door faces into the estate, and the east door opens toward the charcoal barn, whose western half is a passage. The layout suggests that people and goods moved between the two buildings. The plan gives two routes for loading and unloading.

Visiting

The Yano Family Residence Grain Storehouse stands on private land and its interior is closed (checked September 26, 2026). Both doors face into the estate and cannot be seen from outside.

The north face is the side you can see. It is also the face shown in the Agency's photograph, with the central lattice window and the tall cedar cladding. Stand back a little on the road to the north and you can follow the changing roof heights across the lattice room, the grain storehouse and the charcoal barn in one view.

No sign prohibits photography. This is part of a family home, so please keep your visit short.