The Storehouse That Meets the Road
Yasuda Family Residence Storehouse No. 1 (安田家住宅土蔵一, Yasudake Jūtaku Dozō Ichi, also written Yasudake Jutaku Dozo Ichi) is a two-storey plaster-walled storehouse in the Minamibeppu district of Chiran, Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima Prefecture, dating from the middle of the Meiji era and entered on the national register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 5 December 2007.
It stands west of the main house, hard against the road, and its ridge runs north to south. The frame measures three ken by two and a half, giving a building area of 25 square metres, which is small even by the standards of Japanese farm storehouses. The roof is gabled and tiled in sangawara pantile.
The word dozō describes a method rather than a shape. Timber posts are wrapped in successive coats of earth and finished in white lime plaster until the frame disappears entirely inside a thick monolithic skin. The technique was developed for fire, and in a farming settlement where a spark in one thatched roof could take a whole hamlet, the storehouse was where a family kept anything it could not afford to lose: rice, tools, ledgers, ceremonial clothing.
Registered for the Landscape It Makes
Four Yasuda structures entered the register together on 5 December 2007. Three of them, including this storehouse, were listed under the criterion concerning contribution to the historic landscape of the country. Only the main house was cited under a different criterion, as a model of design.
The distinction is worth pausing on, because it changes what the building is being asked to be. Storehouse No. 1 is not registered for inventing anything. It is registered because it stands where the property meets the public road and helps make the frontage what it is, alongside Storehouse No. 2 immediately to its south, the stone gate, and the seventy-seven metres of cut-stone walling that ring the plot.
Read that way, the building's plainness becomes the point. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes its exterior with a phrase that translates roughly as unadorned and clear. There is no decorative plasterwork, no ornamented gable, no display of the owner's standing. The base is laid in kiriishi nunozumi, dressed stone set in level courses, and the walls above are simply lime-plastered. Two windows are cut into the north face. The doorway sits on the east side, facing the main house across the yard, sheltered by its own small eave and closed by a single sliding door rather than the heavy hinged doors found on grander storehouses.
Registration itself is a lighter instrument than designation. The register was established by the 1996 revision of the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties to cover buildings over fifty years old that remain in everyday use; owners give notice of alterations rather than applying for permission. For a working storehouse on an occupied farmstead, that difference is what makes preservation practical.
Seeing It, and Where to Go Instead
The Yasuda property is a private home and is not open to the public. There are no opening hours, no admission charge and no way to see inside the storehouse. Visitors must not enter the grounds.
Because Storehouse No. 1 fronts the road, its white west wall and tiled gable are the part of the property most easily taken in from outside. Anyone passing can register the relationship the registration describes: plaster above dressed stone, the low run of the wall carrying on beyond it, hedging planted tight against the masonry. Photograph the street elevation if you like, keep the residents out of the frame, and leave the drone at home.
Minamibeppu is farming country south of the Chiran town centre, some distance from the samurai quarter, with no bus stop and no interpretive signage at the site. Enquiries go to the Cultural Properties Division of Minamikyushu City on 0993-83-4433.
For a storehouse interior that can actually be entered, the Chiran Samurai Residence Garden district is the practical answer. Buses bound for Chiran leave Kagoshima-Chūō Station and reach the Bukeyashiki-iriguchi stop in roughly ninety minutes; the district opens daily from 9:00 to 17:00, with an admission charge around 530 yen for adults that is worth confirming before you travel. Museum Chiran, closed on Wednesdays, displays the farm implements and household goods that storehouses of this kind were built to hold.
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Q&A
- Can Yasuda Family Residence Storehouse No. 1 be visited or entered?
- No. It belongs to a privately owned residence with no public opening, no admission fee and no visitor facilities. Only the exterior facing the public road can be seen, and the grounds must not be entered.
- How is Yasuda Family Residence Storehouse No. 1 built?
- It is a two-storey dozō, meaning a timber frame encased in thick earth and lime plaster. The base is dressed stone laid in level courses, the walls are lime-plastered, and the gabled roof is tiled in sangawara pantile. Building area is 25 square metres, three ken by two and a half.
- Why was Yasuda Family Residence Storehouse No. 1 registered rather than designated?
- It was listed under the criterion for contribution to the historic landscape, on the strength of the frontage it forms with Storehouse No. 2, the gate and the stone walls. Registration is a lighter framework created in 1996 for buildings still in daily use, requiring notification rather than permission for alterations.
- Where is Yasuda Family Residence Storehouse No. 1 and how do you reach it?
- At 25820 Shimomura, Minamibeppu, Chiran-chō, Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima Prefecture, in farmland south of the town centre. No bus route serves the address and there is no parking or signage, so the site is reachable only by car and only as a passing view.
- What is the difference between Yasuda Family Residence Storehouse No. 1 and Storehouse No. 2?
- They stand in line north to south and share the same footprint of three ken by two and a half. Storehouse No. 1 is the northern of the pair, with a slightly taller ridge, its doorway on the east and two windows on the north. Storehouse No. 2 sits to its south and has its plaster carried up to the eaves on the front elevation only.
Basic Information
| Name | Yasuda Family Residence Storehouse No. 1 (安田家住宅土蔵一) |
|---|---|
| Location | 25820 Shimomura, Minamibeppu, Chiran-chō, Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registration number 46-0052 |
| Year Designated | Registered 5 December 2007; notified 19 December 2007 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Two-storey dozō construction, tiled roof; building area 25 square metres; 3 ken by 2.5 ken |
| Owner | Private (owner not published in the national database) |
| Public Access | Not open to the public; exterior visible from the public road only |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Yasudake Jutaku Dozo Ichi
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00006638
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Yasudake Jutaku Dozo Ni
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00006639
- Kagoshima Cultural Properties Encyclopaedia: Yasudake Jutaku Shuoku and related properties
- https://k-bunkazai-school.com/cultural/f-q-60049/
- Agency for Cultural Affairs: Guide to the Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structures) System
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/tokei_hakusho_shuppan/shuppanbutsu/bunkazai_pamphlet/pdf/pamphlet_ja_06_ver02.pdf
- Minamikyushu City: Chiran Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings
- https://www.city.minamikyushu.lg.jp/soshikikarasagasu/bunkazaika/bunkazai/4/2/401.html
- Chiran Samurai Residence Garden: Access
- https://chiran-bukeyashiki.com/pages/7/
Last verified: 2026.07.24