Former Koshi Family Residence Inner Storehouse

The Storehouse Joined to the House

The Former Koshi Family Residence Inner Storehouse (旧越家住宅内蔵) is a storehouse of the late Meiji period in Suzaka City, Nagano Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on September 19, 2003 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a 2-storey Dozo-zukuri storehouse with a tiled roof and a building area of 20 square metres; registration number 20-0139.

A Storehouse Joined to the West End of the House

The Former Koshi Family Residence Inner Storehouse is the one of the two storehouses behind the main house that is joined to it (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It is a 2-storey gabled storehouse with its ridge running north to south and its entrance on the long side, linked to the west end of the main house through a small room in front of its door.

It sits on a foundation of carefully stacked river cobbles, a type common in the area; the walls are left in rough plaster, the tiled roof is a separate Okiyane set over the clay body, and the gables are closed with wall (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The front has heavy double doors.

The Agency dates it to late Meiji. Suzaka City's description dates the southern of the two storehouses behind the house to early Meiji and the northern one to the Taisho era, after Koshi Jusaburo took over the property, which does not match the Agency's dating.

Why It Was Registered

It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape (Agency for Cultural Affairs), the Agency noting how, joined to the main house, it gives shape to the back of the property.

What to Look For

Look for the heavy double doors and the way the storehouse meets the house through the small room in front of them (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Note too the cobble foundation and the rough, unwhitened plaster of the walls, quite unlike the white plaster and iron-clad base of the Outer Storehouse.

Visiting

Because the Inner Storehouse runs off the west end of the main house, you can locate it while touring the house. No official information on access to the storehouse interior was found. Opening hours and directions are on the Former Koshi Family Residence page.