Former Onogi Family Residence Middle Storehouse

About the Former Onogi Family Residence Middle Storehouse

The Former Onogi Family Residence Middle Storehouse (旧大野木家住宅中蔵, Kyū Ōnogi-ke Jūtaku Nakagura) is a 2-storey earthen-walled storehouse of 1941 standing south of the north storehouse on the Onogi estate in Takehana Donomae-cho, Yamashina Ward, Kyoto City, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on July 25, 2011. Among the buildings with a known year, it was the last to be added to the estate.

The storehouse has a north-south ridge and a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles. It is 4.0 meters square, with a building area of 20 square meters. Kyoto City's own list records the building with the same registration number, 26-0371, as the "south storehouse" (Minamigura), so the name varies between sources. This page follows the official registered name.

Why It Was Registered: The End of the Storehouse Row

The Agency for Cultural Affairs writes of the Former Onogi Family Residence Middle Storehouse that a long line of storehouses in the west corner of the site gives the estate its solid, dignified character. The east, west, north and middle storehouses are gathered on the west side, and this building closes the southern end of the row.

On its own it is a small block 4 meters square. Set in a continuous line of white walls and tiled roofs, it helps give the west side of the estate its sense of depth. The registration criterion is that the building contributes to the historic landscape of the country.

Highlights: Windows on Two Sides

The entrance of the Former Onogi Family Residence Middle Storehouse is on the east side, where a pair of plastered Kakegonuri doors hangs under a pantiled eave. Like the north storehouse it faces east, but here the doors return to the plastered type used on the east and west storehouses rather than iron.

The windows are what give this storehouse its own character. Besides the one on the east face, the Onogi middle storehouse has a small hooded window high on its south wall too. The other three storehouses have windows only on the face with the door, but this one, at the end of the row, also looks south. The walls have Koshiita boarding at the base and lime plaster above.

The 4 storehouses were completed over roughly 5 years, beginning with the north storehouse of about 1936 and ending with the middle storehouse of 1941. Their near-identical specifications suggest they were added one after another to a single plan.

Visiting the Former Onogi Family Residence Middle Storehouse

The Former Onogi Family Residence Middle Storehouse stands on the west side of the grounds. The wedding and restaurant business at the Former Onogi Family Residence ended at the end of September 2024, and the grounds are now closed, so the east doorway and the south window cannot be seen up close.

The interior is not open. Access and viewing conditions for the whole estate are covered on the Former Onogi Family Residence page.