A small store for home-made miso
The Yusa Family Residence Miso Storehouse (遊佐家住宅味噌蔵, Yusa-ke Jūtaku Misogura) is a Meiji-period clay-walled store for miso on the Yusa farmstead in Ishinomori, Tome City, Miyagi Prefecture, entered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2 March 2006.
It stands on a raised terrace northwest of the main house. The store is a single-storey Dozo-zukuri building 2 and a half bays by 2, with a building area of 14 square metres, under a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of sheet iron set on as a separate okiyane roof.
Its job was to hold the miso the family made for itself while it aged. It is the smallest of the six registered buildings.
Why it was registered
The Yusa Family Residence Miso Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape; like the plank storehouse, the Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as one element of the farmstead layout.
When a farm household made its own miso, a store to protect it was a necessity rather than a luxury. Here rice and miso were kept in separate buildings built in different ways, each store with its own method of construction.
A pebble-finish dado and an east-facing door
The walls are white Shikkui plaster, and the lower band is finished in mortar Araidashi, mortar mixed with small stones and washed before it sets so the pebbles stand proud, giving a hard, grainy skin. The clay storehouse nearby uses tiles for the same job; here the builders chose mortar.
The door is on the east front, with a clay fire door (Tsuchido) and a plank door sliding one behind the other. The set-on roof leaves an air gap above the clay body that evens out temperature inside, and standing on higher ground keeps the store away from damp.
Visiting
The Yusa Family Residence Miso 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 Miso Storehouse
- [ Matsushima Bay Cruise & Sendai Food Tours ]
Q&A
- Where is the Yusa Family Residence Miso Storehouse?
- On the Yusa farmstead in Ishinomori, Tome, Miyagi, on a raised terrace northwest of the main house.
- How is the Yusa Family Residence Miso Storehouse built?
- A single-storey clay-walled store, 2 and a half bays by 2, with a separate gabled iron roof set over the clay body. The walls are white plaster above a pebble-finish mortar dado.
- When was the Yusa Family Residence Miso Storehouse registered?
- On 2 March 2006, at the same time as the other five registered buildings on the farmstead.
- Can I visit the Yusa Family Residence Miso Storehouse?
- It is on private property and no public opening has been announced.
- What is the pebble finish on the Yusa Family Residence Miso Storehouse?
- Araidashi: mortar mixed with small stones is washed before it sets so the pebbles stand proud, leaving a hard, grainy surface on the lower wall.
Basic Information
| Name | Yusa Family Residence Miso 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 | 2 and a half by 2 bays (ken), building area 14 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: 遊佐家住宅味噌蔵 (Yusa Family Residence Miso Storehouse), Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005227
- 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
