The Small Storehouse That Kept the Paperwork
Set between the main house and the rice store on the Numajiri compound in Kaneda, Tsukuba, stands the smallest of the family's registered buildings. Its purpose was divided by floor: the ground level held farm tools, while the upper story served as a bunsho-gura, a document store where the household's records and papers were kept dry and secure. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the middle Meiji era, between 1868 and 1911, placing it a little later than the neighboring rice storehouse.
It is a genuinely small building. The plan runs three ken by two, the ken being the traditional module of about 1.82 meters, for a footprint of roughly 23 square meters. Even so, it rises two full stories under a gabled roof of sangawara pantiles, so its slender north-south form reads as taller than its floor area would suggest. It sits south of the main house and to the northwest of the rice store, close enough to its Meiji sibling to share its look.
Built to Match Its Neighbor
The storehouse is entered from the gable end in the tsumairi manner, with the doorway opening under the triangular north gable. A geya-bisashi, or lean-to eave, is set over that opening to throw rain clear of the door.
Outside, the treatment deliberately echoes the rice store a few steps away. The frame is left exposed in shinkabe fashion instead of being plastered over, and above a high wainscot the walls are clad in oshibuchi shitami-ita, horizontal boarding held down by slender battens (the oshibuchi) that press the boards flat against the wall. The result is a pair of Meiji outbuildings that plainly belong together, a visual family resemblance that helps hold the whole compound into a single historic scene.
Why Even a Toolshed Was Registered
It might seem surprising that a 23-square-meter store for tools and papers carries a national registration at all. The building was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 12 July 2005, in the same forty-sixth round as the rest of the compound, under the number 08-0177. The reasoning becomes clear once you stop looking at the storehouse in isolation.
Registered status here rests on contribution to the historic landscape, and the value of this building lies largely in its role within the group. A leading farm household needed more than a granary: it needed somewhere to keep implements to hand and somewhere to protect the written records that a village officer's family accumulated. The document store answers both needs and, together with the main house, rice store, and row building, completes a rare surviving picture of how such a household organized its space across the Edo-to-modern transition.
Finding It on the Property
Of the four registered buildings, this storehouse is the most utilitarian and the least likely to be open in any form. The rice store next to it has been remodeled as a café and the Taisho row building has been used as a shop, but the small storehouse kept its original storage role and has no visitor function. Its interest for a visitor is chiefly external, as one element in a coherent group of farm buildings seen from the yard.
The compound is privately owned and is not a museum. Treat it as private property, view the exteriors only from where access is clearly permitted, and check the current local situation before planning a visit. Travelers who want to step inside a historic Ibaraki farm building will find dependable access at the folk-house displays of nearby municipal and prefectural heritage sites rather than here.
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Q&A
- What was this storehouse used for?
- The ground floor held farm tools and the upper floor was a document store, keeping the household's records dry and protected. It is the smallest of the four registered buildings on the site.
- When was it built?
- In the middle Meiji era, recorded as 1868 to 1911. That places it slightly later than the rice storehouse, which dates to the early Meiji years.
- Why does it look so much like the rice store?
- Both share a gable-entry form, pantiled roofs, and shinkabe walls with high boarding. The matching treatment ties the two Meiji outbuildings together as a visual pair within the compound.
- Can I go inside?
- No. Unlike the café in the rice store, this building kept its storage function and has no visitor access. It is best appreciated from outside as part of the group.
Basic Information
| Name | Numajiri Family Residence Storehouse (Numajiri-ke Jutaku Kura) |
|---|---|
| Location | 38-1 Kaneda, Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Registration No. | 08-0177 (46th round) |
| Date registered | 12 July 2005 (gazetted 2 August 2005) |
| Period | Middle Meiji era (1868-1911) |
| Count | 1 building |
| Structure | Timber, two stories, pantiled roof; building area approx. 23 m²; gabled, gable-entry; ground floor for tools, upper floor a document store |
| Access to interior | Privately owned; retains storage function, no visitor access |
References
- National Database of Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs) — Numajiri Family Residence Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00004759
- Tsukuba City — Protection of Cultural Properties
- https://www.city.tsukuba.lg.jp/soshikikarasagasu/kyoikukyokubunkazaika/gyomuannai/2/1/1001638.html
- Ibaraki Prefectural Board of Education — List of Cultural Properties in Ibaraki
- https://kyoiku.pref.ibaraki.jp/art-and-culture/ibaraki-bunkazai/list/
Last verified: 2026.07.02