A Storehouse the Size of a Small Room
Behind the main building of Ryokan Kunrakuso, set to the northwest of it, stands a storehouse so small it is easy to walk past. Its footprint is about 19 square meters, roughly 4.9 meters by 3.9 meters, carried over two floors. The structure is a dozo, an earthen-walled storehouse, with a gabled pantile roof running north to south. Its north gable turns to face the street.
Built in the late Meiji period, between 1898 and 1912, it belongs to the same lot and the same era as the inn's main building. What surprises is not its size but how carefully it is finished for a building meant to hold goods.
Why a Small Storehouse Is Registered
The storehouse is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, listed on October 28, 2011, in the 71st round of registrations, under registration number 24-0115. The criterion is the one for structures that contribute to the historic character of the national landscape. It was registered as one of three elements on the site, alongside the main building and the gate and wall.
The reason a plain storehouse earns that status becomes clear at street level. Its lower street-side wall is clad with boards in the same manner as the neighboring fence, so the eye runs from storehouse to wall without a break. Remove the storehouse and the street edge would lose a piece of its line.
What to Look For
Look first at the material of the outer walls. Rather than the white plaster common to storehouses, these are clad in copper sheeting over the earthen core, with a skirt of clapboard siding along the base. The east face carries a different treatment: a namako-kabe skirt, a wall of flat square tiles set in a grid with raised white plaster along the joints, pierced by a doorway.
That mix of copper, board and tiled plaster on a 19-square-meter box is the point. The builders treated a utilitarian store as part of the inn's public face, matching its street-side finish to the fence beside it so the two hold the corner together.
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Q&A
- How big is the storehouse?
- Small. Its footprint is about 19 square meters, roughly 4.9 by 3.9 meters, over two floors.
- What is namako-kabe?
- A wall finish of flat square tiles set in a grid, with raised white plaster along the joints. It resists fire and rain and appears here on the east skirt of the storehouse.
- Why is such a small building registered?
- Because it holds one corner of a coherent Meiji streetscape. Its street-side board siding continues the line of the neighboring fence, so the storehouse, gate and wall read as one edge.
- What is dozo construction?
- A storehouse type built with thick earthen walls, here clad on the outside with copper sheeting over the earthen core.
- Can I see it?
- The storehouse stands on the inn's lot, and its north gable faces the street, so it can be viewed from outside. The interior is not open to the general public.
Basic Information
| Name | Ryokan Kunrakuso Storehouse (Ryokan Kunrakuso Kura) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1474 and others, Ueno-Kuwamachi, Iga City, Mie Prefecture |
| Classification | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Registration | October 28, 2011 (71st round); Registration No. 24-0115 |
| Period | Late Meiji (1898 to 1912) |
| Structure | Two-story dozo (earthen-walled storehouse), tiled gable roof, floor area approx. 19 m2 (approx. 4.9 by 3.9 m) |
| Count | 1 building |
| Access | Exterior visible from the street; interior not open to the public |
References
- National Database of Registered Cultural Properties (Ryokan Kunrakuso Storehouse) — Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00009025
- Cultural Heritage Online (Ryokan Kunrakuso Storehouse)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/208005
- Iga-Ueno Tourist Association (Ryokan Kunrakuso)
- https://www.igaueno.net/?kaiin=528
Last verified: 2026.07.11