What Is the Misedoi Family Residence Main Storehouse?
The Misedoi Family Residence Main Storehouse (見世土井家住宅本蔵, Misedoi-ke Jūtaku Honagura) is a two-storey earthen-walled storehouse of the late Edo period (1830 to 1868) on the Misedoi estate in Asahi-cho, Owase City, Mie Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 4 August 2015. Built in the Dozo-zukuri manner, it covers 59 square metres and stands north of the main house with its ridge running east to west.
It measures 9.1 metres long by 6.5 metres deep. The gabled roof, in Kirizuma-zukuri form, is laid with traditional round-and-flat tiles, Hongawarabuki, and its Onigawara ridge-end tiles bear the family crest, eight mallets arranged in a wheel. The door is on the south side under a projecting eave. Inside, board partitions divide both floors into two rooms each.
This was the household-goods store. It held the bowls and tableware used for entertaining guests as well as for everyday meals.
The Oldest Building on the Estate
The Misedoi Family Residence Main Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape, but its real distinction among the nine structures is age. The Agency for Cultural Affairs places it in the late Edo period, making it the only one of the nine that predates the Meiji era. It is at least sixty years older than the main house of 1931.
The roof sets it apart as well. In the Agency's descriptions, this is the only structure on the estate explicitly recorded with full round-and-flat tiling; the other storehouses and outbuildings are listed with simpler interlocking Sangawara-buki tiles. Full tiling is heavier and more labour-intensive, a mark of status given to the building that guarded the family's valuables.
For a household that lived by forestry and trade, the tableware brought out for guests was part of the family's public face. The storehouse that kept it has outlasted everything else on the lot, and the later buildings grew up around it.
What to Look For
Look first at the roof: lines of round tiles run from ridge to eaves, capped at each end by the crested ridge tiles. The same crest appears on the rice storehouse's ridge tiles and on the smaller storehouse's eave tiles, tying buildings of different decades together as one family's property.
The south door and its eave face the back of the main house, across the yard from the kitchen, with the well house between them. The short route between kitchen and tableware store is written into the layout.
The division of each floor into two rooms suggests the contents were sorted by type or use rather than piled into one open space.
Visiting the Main Storehouse
The Misedoi Family Residence Main Storehouse sits in the service yard and its interior is not open. The estate as a whole does not, as a rule, admit people who come only to see the cultural properties, and no viewing days for the storehouse had been announced as of 17 September 2026.
Standing north of the main house, it is not clearly visible from the surrounding streets. If you enter the grounds for an event at Share Space Doimise, take the chance to look at the tiled roof and crested ridge ends, and check with staff before taking photographs.
Directions and entry conditions for the estate are on the Misedoi Family Residence page.
Q&A
- When was the Misedoi Family Residence Main Storehouse built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the late Edo period, 1830 to 1868. It is the only one of the nine registered structures from the Edo period.
- What was kept in the Misedoi Family Residence Main Storehouse?
- Household goods, chiefly the bowls and tableware used for guests and for daily meals.
- What kind of roof does the Misedoi Family Residence Main Storehouse have?
- A gabled roof laid with full round-and-flat tiles, with ridge-end tiles showing the family crest of eight mallets in a wheel. It is the only structure on the estate described with this tiling.
- Can I see inside the Misedoi Family Residence Main Storehouse?
- No. The interior is closed, and the estate does not admit sightseers as a rule (checked 17 September 2026).
- How large is the Misedoi Family Residence Main Storehouse?
- It is 9.1 metres long and 6.5 metres deep, two storeys high, with a building area of 59 square metres. Each floor is divided into two rooms.
Basic Information
| Name | Misedoi Family Residence Main Storehouse (見世土井家住宅本蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 72 Asahi-cho, Owase City, Mie Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), register no. 24-0208 |
| Year Designated | Registered 4 August 2015 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Earthen-walled storehouse, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building area 59 square metres |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Closed. The estate does not admit sightseers as a rule. |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Misedoi Family Residence Main Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010617
- Cultural Heritage Online: Misedoi Family Residence Main Storehouse (in Japanese)
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/237471
- Owase City: Misedoi Family Residence Main House and Eight Other Structures (in Japanese)
- https://www.city.owase.lg.jp/0000013066.html
- Owase City: Summary of the Nine Registered Structures (PDF, in Japanese)
- https://www.city.owase.lg.jp/cmsfiles/contents/0000013/13066/doimisegaiyou.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.17
