Former Yamada Family Residence Corner Storehouse

What the Former Yamada Family Residence Corner Storehouse is

The Former Yamada Family Residence Corner Storehouse (旧山田家住宅隅蔵, Kyū-Yamada-ke Jūtaku Suminokura) is a late Edo earthen storehouse, built between 1830 and 1868 in Ebe, Nakano City, Nagano Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on November 29, 2016. It stands at the northwest corner of the estate, where National Route 403 on the north meets a city road on the west.

It is earthen-walled, single storey and roofed in pantiles (Sangawara-buki), with a building area of 54 m². The ridge runs east to west, with the entrance on the south. Although it has only one storey, it is unusually tall, and inside both walls and floor are lined with boards. Nakano City describes it as a grain store from the end of the Edo period.

Why the Corner Storehouse was registered

The Former Yamada Family Residence Corner Storehouse was registered for contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that it carries a floating roof tiled in one run with the back gate, and that it forms part of the street-facing wall together with the buildings along the north and west sides.

Its position is its job. The north row of storehouses turns here and becomes the west row with the Rokkengura and Nikengura. Because the Corner Storehouse ties the two together, the outline of the estate reads unbroken from either street.

According to Nakano City, some timbers scorched in the Nakano Uprising of 1870 are still in use in the building. That uprising was a farmers' revolt in which the offices of the short-lived Nakano Prefecture were set on fire.

What to look for

From the corner

Stand near the junction of the two roads and you can see the stone base, white plaster and dark lower boarding (Shitami-itabari) turning the corner in both directions. The roof continues in one line of tiles from the back gate to the east, and the gable end of the Corner Storehouse closes off the corner.

The boarded interior

Inside, every wall and the floor are boarded, as suits a store for grain, and the tall single storey gives generous height. Ask the staff where the fire-scorched timbers are before you go looking.

Visiting the Corner Storehouse

Nakano City lists the Former Yamada Family Residence Corner Storehouse among the buildings open to visitors, so it can be seen with a regular admission ticket on opening days. Visits are by advance booking. The exterior is visible from both Route 403 and the city road; the junction is busy, so stay on the footway.

Ask at reception whether indoor photography is allowed. Opening hours, admission and directions are on the Former Yamada Family Residence page.