Former Ueda Family Residence Inner Storehouse

About the Former Ueda Family Residence Inner Storehouse

The Former Ueda Family Residence Inner Storehouse (旧上田家住宅内蔵, Kyū Ueda-ke Jūtaku Uchigura) is a two-story earthen-walled storehouse for household goods in Kaidecho, Muko City, Kyoto Prefecture, built around 1910 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on March 29, 2019. Like the main house, it was moved here around 1942 from the family's original plot about 190 meters to the east.

The Former Ueda Family Residence Inner Storehouse occupies the northwest corner of the plot, beside the annex and against the back of the main house. With a building area of 15 square meters it is the smallest of the five registrations. It is built in the Dozo-zukuri manner, with a gabled roof of interlocking pantiles and its door on the south side.

Why the Inner Storehouse Was Registered

The Ueda inner storehouse was registered for contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out its position: standing in the northwest corner of the plot, it helps shape the streetscape of the village. From inside the compound it is tucked against the formal rooms; from outside, it presents a white wall to the lane.

The name uchigura, literally "inner storehouse," fits. Muko City notes that you can reach it directly along the veranda from the tatami rooms of the main house and the annex. That link between the formal rooms and the store for the family's valuables survived the relocation intact.

Three Plaster Bands and a Hidden Strongroom

The walls of the Former Ueda Family Residence Inner Storehouse are finished in white Shikkui plaster, and three thick plaster bands, called Hachimaki, wrap around the top of the walls below the eaves. Below the bands, vertical boards shield the earthen walls. The clean split between white plaster above and timber below is a practical guard against rain and splashing mud, made visible.

Both floors inside are planked, and the roof is carried on sloping rafter beams, the Nobori-bari method. According to Muko City, a small hidden strongroom survives in the floor: a second line of security inside a building that was already the family's safe place for valuables.

Today the interior of the Former Ueda Family Residence Inner Storehouse serves as a nine-mat gallery. Exhibitions run for set periods; in autumn 2026 it showed jars excavated at the Nagaoka Palace site, and a photo exhibition of fireworks is scheduled for October 6 to 12, 2026.

Seeing the Inner Storehouse

Because the Former Ueda Family Residence Inner Storehouse is rented out as a gallery, what you can see inside changes with each exhibition. The city's pages do not say whether the storehouse is open on days with no show, so check the events page before visiting. Whether photography is allowed is not stated either; ask at the reception.

Standing in the northwest corner, the white walls of the storehouse can be seen from the lane outside the plot. Inside the compound, look for the south-facing door at the end of the veranda that connects it to the main house and annex. Opening days and directions are on the Former Ueda Family Residence (Muko) page.