An Edo Storehouse Cut to Fit Its Plot
The Ogawa Family Residence West Storehouse (小川家住宅西蔵) is an earthen-walled storehouse of the late Edo period in Sakakimachi, Nabari City, Mie Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on October 27, 2017 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The Agency records a two-storey earthen-walled storehouse with a tiled roof and a building area of 22 square metres, dated to the late Edo period (1830–1868); registration number 24-243.
A Storehouse with a Slanted Back
The Ogawa Family Residence West Storehouse (小川家住宅西蔵, Ogawa-ke Jūtaku Nishigura) lies southwest of the east storehouse and faces east (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It dates from the late Edo period, like the main house, and is the older of the two storehouses on a site where the Ogawa family brewed soy sauce until 1948 (Mie Prefecture).
It measures two and a half bays by two, but the plan is not a true rectangle. The Agency notes that the rear wall is cut on a slant to follow the plot. The plot came first, and the wall of the Ogawa Family Residence West Storehouse was made to follow it.
Why It Was Registered
The Ogawa Family Residence West Storehouse was registered as contributing to the historic landscape of the country (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency treats it as a storehouse that shows how the family prospered through soy sauce brewing, and Mie Prefecture says the main house and two storehouses still show the property as it was in those years.
Gable Front and Doorway
The Ogawa Family Residence West Storehouse has a gable roof and is entered at the gable end, the arrangement called Tsumairi, so its triangular gable wall faces east (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The doorway has double plaster doors finished in Kakegonuri, with a sliding mesh door inside. The east storehouse has both a board door and a mesh door behind its plaster doors; here there is the mesh door alone.
The lower wall is finished in namako walling, in a diamond pattern according to a local newspaper (Iga Town Joho YOU). Inside is a single room. The upper floor has one window on the front and one on the side (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
What to Look For
The first thing to look at on the Ogawa Family Residence West Storehouse is the gable front: plaster doors under the triangular wall, a namako dado and one window above. It looks nothing like the long-sided front of the east storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The slanted rear wall cannot be read from the front. It is the place where the building can be seen to follow the shape of the plot.
Visiting
The Ogawa Family Residence West Storehouse stands behind the main house and does not face the Hase Kaido. The property is a private home, and no official information was found on access to the grounds or the storehouse interior, nor on photography.
Directions from Nabari Station are given on the page for the Ogawa Family Residence (Nabari).
Q&A
- When was the Ogawa Family Residence West Storehouse built?
- In the late Edo period; the Agency for Cultural Affairs gives 1830–1868.
- Can I visit the Ogawa Family Residence West Storehouse?
- It stands at the back of a private home and no information on access was found. It does not face the Hase Kaido.
- Why is the back of the Ogawa Family Residence West Storehouse slanted?
- According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the rear wall was cut on a slant to follow the plot.
- How large is the Ogawa Family Residence West Storehouse?
- Two and a half bays by two, two storeys, with a building area of 22 square metres (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- When was the Ogawa Family Residence West Storehouse registered?
- On October 27, 2017 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Basic Information
| Name | Ogawa Family Residence West Storehouse (小川家住宅西蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1404-2 Sakakimachi, Nabari City, Mie Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2017/10/27 (Heisei 29) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Earthen-walled, two-storey, tiled roof, building area 22 m², 2.5 bays by 2 bays |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | Within a private home (not open to the public) |
References
- Ogawa Family Residence West Storehouse (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00011972
- Ogawa Family Residence West Storehouse (Cultural Heritage Online, Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/294850
- Recommendation for new registration of tangible cultural properties (Mie Prefecture, Japanese)
- https://www.pref.mie.lg.jp/TOPICS/m0046300059.htm
- Outline of the properties recommended in Mie (Mie Prefectural Board of Education, Japanese)
- https://www.pref.mie.lg.jp/common/content/000738202.pdf
- Three Nabari buildings added to the register (Iga Town Joho YOU, Japanese)
- https://www.iga-younet.co.jp/news1/2017/07/3-51.html
Last verified: 2026.11.11
