A Storehouse 3 Meters Square
The Former Omi Family Residence Mikoshi Storehouse (旧尾見家住宅神輿蔵, Kyū-Omi-ke Jūtaku Mikoshigura) is a small early-Showa storehouse standing southwest of the main house in the Murata district of Chikusei City, Ibaraki Prefecture, entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 29 November 2016 (Heisei 28). It was built between 1926 and 1945 to hold the portable shrine, or mikoshi, owned by the Omi family, and it takes its name from what is kept inside.
The footprint is 3 meters square, 9.9 square meters in all, roughly the floor area of 6 tatami mats. The roof is Irimoya-zukuri, laid with Sangawara-buki pantiles, with a Kōhai canopy projecting over the front. Inside there is a single room with an earth floor. Nothing in those dimensions announces a nationally registered building.
The Omi family were village headmen here through the Edo period, and the main house beside the storehouse dates from 1848. The Former Omi Family Residence Mikoshi Storehouse belongs to a much later chapter on the same ground, when the household was still building on an estate that also held a soy sauce works, several storehouses and a peony garden.
Registered for What Could Not Easily Be Made Again
Registration number 08-0295 was granted to the Former Omi Family Residence Mikoshi Storehouse under the criterion for work that would not easily be reproduced. Registration is a different instrument from designation, and the distinction is set out under Registered Tangible Cultural Property.
What could not easily be made again here is the metalwork. The base is finished in arai-dashi, a mortar surface washed back while still green so that the aggregate stands out. Below the Nageshi rail the front is sheathed in copper worked into an overlapping scale pattern called uroko. For the sides and rear, the Agency for Cultural Affairs describes iron sheet whose lower portion is raised to read as coursed stone. Chikusei City gives a slightly different account, describing copper on the two side walls with a hexagonal kikko pattern and a stone-grain finish on the lower panels away from the front.
The two descriptions agree on the substance. This is architectural sheet-metal work of the early Showa years, raised and struck by hand, applied to a building most people would walk past. Size had nothing to do with the decision; technique had everything to do with it.
Details Worth Slowing Down For
Stand square to the front. The Kōhai canopy gives a 9.9-square-meter box the frontal composition of a small shrine building, which suits what the Former Omi Family Residence Mikoshi Storehouse was made to hold. The doors below it open outward as a pair.
Then look at where the materials change. Washed aggregate at the base, metal above it, clay tile on top: 3 surfaces in a building small enough to take in at one glance, each doing a different job.
Raised patterning of this kind reads by shadow rather than by colour, so the front alters with the angle of the light. Late morning and late afternoon give different faces to the same panel.
Compared with the main house a short walk to the northeast, this is a different exercise altogether. The main house argues by scale; the storehouse argues by finish.
Visiting the Former Omi Family Residence Mikoshi Storehouse
The Former Omi Family Residence Mikoshi Storehouse stands in the garden southwest of the main house and is privately owned. Since June 2023 the main house has operated as a cafe, OMI CAFE by RAIFUKU, run by the neighbouring brewery Raifuku Shuzo, founded in 1716. The grounds are open on cafe days, and the exterior of the storehouse can be seen then.
The cafe opens 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on weekdays and 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and closes on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and the 2nd Sunday of each month. Unscheduled closures occur, so call 0296-45-5495 first. Bookings are handled through the operator's official LINE account, groups of 7 or more are asked to reserve 2 weeks ahead, and there are 15 parking spaces. Pets are not admitted.
No notice about opening the interior of the storehouse is published, and no photography policy is published either. Ask at the cafe before walking further into the garden or photographing the building.
The nearest station is Shimodate, on the JR Mito Line, the Kanto Railway Joso Line and the Moka Railway; the brewery gives the trip as about 10 minutes by taxi. By car it is roughly 1 hour from the Yawara interchange on the Joban Expressway along National Route 294.
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Q&A
- What is the Former Omi Family Residence Mikoshi Storehouse?
- A storehouse of the early Showa period, 3 meters square and 9.9 square meters in floor area, built to hold the portable shrine owned by the Omi family. It became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 29 November 2016 (Heisei 28) under registration number 08-0295.
- Can I see the Former Omi Family Residence Mikoshi Storehouse?
- The exterior can be seen from the grounds on days when the cafe in the main house is trading. No notice about opening the interior has been published, so ask at the cafe.
- When is the site of the Former Omi Family Residence Mikoshi Storehouse open?
- The cafe in the main house trades 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on weekdays and 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, closing Tuesdays, Wednesdays and the 2nd Sunday of each month. Phone 0296-45-5495 to confirm.
- Why was such a small building registered?
- The Former Omi Family Residence Mikoshi Storehouse was accepted under the criterion for work that would not easily be reproduced. The decision rests on the decorative sheet-metal cladding, not on the size of the building.
- How do I get to the Former Omi Family Residence Mikoshi Storehouse?
- Take a taxi from Shimodate Station, about 10 minutes according to the operator. Shimodate is served by the JR Mito Line, the Kanto Railway Joso Line and the Moka Railway. By road it is about 1 hour from the Yawara interchange via National Route 294, and 15 parking spaces are available at 1624 Shimomachi, Murata.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Omi Family Residence Mikoshi Storehouse (旧尾見家住宅神輿蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1624 Shimomachi, Murata, Chikusei City, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registration number 08-0295 |
| Year Designated | Registered on 29 November 2016 (Heisei 28) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | About 3 meters square, floor area 9.9 square meters |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | Exterior visible from the grounds while the cafe in the main house is trading: 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on weekdays, 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays; closed Tuesdays, Wednesdays and the 2nd Sunday of each month. Interior not advertised as open |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Former Omi Family Residence Mikoshi Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00011254
- Chikusei City: Former Omi Family Residence
- https://www.city.chikusei.lg.jp/kyouiku-bunka-sports/bunkazai/nationally-registered/page004556.html
- Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education: Former Omi Family Residence Main House and 2 other buildings
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-registered-5951/
- OMI CAFE official site (Raifuku Shuzo)
- https://raifuku.co.jp/omicafe/
- Raifuku Shuzo: company profile and access
- https://raifuku.co.jp/about/
Last verified: 2026.09.06