A storehouse built for the household's miso
Behind the main house of the Iwase residence in Koyamazaki, on the eastern side of Tsuchiura in Ibaraki Prefecture, a row of storehouses fans outward across the grounds. The Iwase family served as nanushi, the village headman, of Koyamazaki through the Edo period (1603-1868), and a household of that standing needed serious storage. At the eastern end of the fan, beside the rice storehouse (komegura), stands the miso storehouse (misogura), built to hold the fermented soybean paste that was a staple of the family's table.
The building is a two-storey timber structure under a gabled pantile roof, measuring 5.6 metres along the front and 5.0 metres in depth. Its ground floor is divided into two rooms: a space for the miso itself and a general storeroom. A deep lean-to eave (geya-bisashi) wraps around from the western face to the southern one. Beneath that lean-to the floor is bare earth (doma), and the western side is left open to the air. The outer walls are plastered over an exposed timber frame (shinkabe) and finished in white plaster (shikkui).
The miso storehouse belongs to the late Meiji period, which makes it newer than the late-Edo rice store and household storehouse nearby. It records a moment when the estate was still being added to, well after the Edo-period core was in place.
Why a working storehouse was registered
On 28 April 2010 the miso storehouse was entered on the national register of tangible cultural properties (tōroku yūkei bunkazai), in the 67th round, under reference number 08-0235. The register, created in 1996, protects buildings about fifty years old or more that contribute to the historic landscape. It is a lighter framework than designation as an Important Cultural Property and is designed to keep ordinary working buildings, the kind a household actually used, in continued use.
The storehouse was registered as part of the larger group of the main house and seven other structures. Its interest is documentary rather than ornamental. A formal gate or a grand main house shows a household's rank; a miso store shows how it fed itself. Kept together with the rice store and the household storehouse, the building helps preserve the full working economy of a leading farm family, from grain to ferment to family goods.
What rewards a closer look
The feature that gives the building its settled look is the deep lean-to eave. By extending the roof low around the western and southern faces, the carpenters created a sheltered earth-floored margin that keeps weather off the walls and gives the squat two-storey box a broad, grounded base. It is a practical solution that doubles as good proportion, and it is the reason the storehouse looks stable rather than top-heavy.
The white plaster is worth reading against its neighbour. Where the household storehouse to the southwest of the main house wears a black-plastered skin, the miso store is finished in white, part of the quiet variation across the estate's storehouses. Seen as a group, the storehouses spreading in their fan behind the main house show how a large rural household separated its functions, grain in one store, miso in another, family goods in a third.
The Iwase residence is a private home and is not open to the public, and the storehouses sit within the grounds rather than along the road, so the miso store cannot be viewed from outside. Travellers interested in this kind of rural storehouse can find earthen-walled kura on display at open-air architectural museums and at preserved farmhouse estates across the Kanto region, where the construction can be examined at close range.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Ibaraki
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Iwase Family Residence Miso Storehouse
- [ Hitachi Seaside Park Nemophila Flower Tours ]
Q&A
- What was this storehouse used for?
- It stored the household's miso, the fermented soybean paste central to the family's cooking. Its ground floor was split into a miso space and a general storeroom.
- How big is it?
- It is a two-storey timber building measuring 5.6 metres across the front and 5.0 metres in depth, with a building area of about 40 square metres, under a gabled pantile roof.
- When was it built?
- It dates to the late Meiji period, making it newer than the late-Edo rice store and household storehouse on the same grounds.
- What is the lean-to for?
- The deep lean-to eave wraps the west and south faces over an earth-floored margin, sheltering the walls and giving the building a broad, stable base.
- Can I see the storehouse?
- No. It stands within the private grounds and is not open to the public or visible from the road. Comparable storehouses can be seen at open-air museums and preserved farmhouses elsewhere in the region.
Basic Information
| Name | Iwase Family Residence Miso Storehouse (Iwase-ke Jūtaku Misogura) |
|---|---|
| Location | Koyamazaki, Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building); registration no. 08-0235 |
| Registered | 28 April 2010 (67th round of registrations) |
| Count | 1 structure |
| Structure | Two-storey timber, pantile roof; building area about 40 m² |
| Period | Late Meiji period |
| Owner | Privately owned |
| Public access | Not open to the public; within the private grounds |
References
- National Database of Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs (Iwase Family Residence Miso Storehouse)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008090
- Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education, Cultural Properties (Iwase Family Residence, main house and seven other structures)
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-registered-6043/
Last verified: 2026.06.25