The plank-walled rice store
The Yusa Family Residence Itagura Storehouse (遊佐家住宅板蔵, Yusa-ke Jūtaku Itagura) is a Meiji-period plank-walled storehouse on the Yusa farmstead in Ishinomori, Tome City, Miyagi Prefecture, entered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2 March 2006.
It was used to store rice and is linked to the reception hall by a covered passage running from the hall's south side. The building is a single-storey timber structure three bays by two, with a building area of 22 square metres, under a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of sheet iron.
Itagura simply means board storehouse. Where the clay storehouse on the same farmstead buries its frame in earth, the Yusa Family Residence Itagura Storehouse builds its walls from posts and planks alone. A storehouse of the same type, written with a different character, belongs to another Yusa Family Residence in Naruko Onsen; it is a different building on a different farm.
Why it was registered
It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as one element of the farmstead layout, and that is its real interest: a rice store joined by a corridor to the guest wing tells you a good deal about how the household was organised.
Close-set posts and dropped-in planks
The walls are the thing to look at. Posts stand at a tight interval of one shaku five sun, about 45 centimetres, and horizontal boards are dropped in from above between them, each resting on the one below in grooves cut into the posts. The result is a wall ruled with fine verticals and horizontals, almost a grid.
Boards set in this way can be replaced one at a time when they decay, and the timber breathes with the seasons, which suits a store where rice was kept for long periods.
The door is in the north gable end: a plank door and a screen door, both sliding. There is no clay fire door, a telling difference from the clay-walled storehouse next door.
Visiting
The Yusa Family Residence Itagura Storehouse is on private property and no public opening has been announced. Photographs of the building are published in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database and on the Cultural Heritage Online portal.
Directions to the farmstead and the conditions that apply to the whole site are collected on the page for the farmstead as a group.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Miyagi
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Yusa Family Residence Itagura Storehouse
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Q&A
- What was the Yusa Family Residence Itagura Storehouse used for?
- It was a rice store. A covered passage connects it to the reception hall on the same farmstead.
- How are the walls of the Yusa Family Residence Itagura Storehouse built?
- Posts are set about 45 centimetres apart, one shaku five sun, and horizontal planks are dropped in between them to form the outer wall.
- Is the Yusa Family Residence Itagura Storehouse in Tome the same as the itagura in Naruko Onsen?
- No. Both are plank-walled storehouses read itagura, but the Tome building was registered in 2006 and the Naruko Onsen one, in Ōsaki, in 1998.
- Can I visit the Yusa Family Residence Itagura Storehouse?
- It is on private property and no public opening has been announced. Photographs are published in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database and on the Cultural Heritage Online portal.
- When was the Yusa Family Residence Itagura Storehouse registered?
- On 2 March 2006, together with the main house and four other buildings on the farmstead. It is dated to the Meiji period.
Basic Information
| Name | Yusa Family Residence Itagura Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 121 Ishinomori, Nakada, Tome City, Miyagi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2006/3/2 (Heisei 18) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 3 by 2 bays (ken), building area 22 square metres |
| Owner | Not listed in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (no open days or viewing arrangement announced) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: 遊佐家住宅板蔵 (Yusa Family Residence Itagura Storehouse), Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005225
- List of Cultural Properties, Tome City Board of Education
- https://www.city.tome.miyagi.jp/bunkazai/kurashi/kosodate/kyoikuinkai/shakaikyoiku/bunkazai.html
Last verified: 2026.09.25
