Iida Family Residence Miso Storehouse

What the Miso Storehouse Is

The Iida Family Residence Miso Storehouse (飯田家住宅味噌蔵, Iida-ke Jūtaku Misogura) is a Meiji-period 2-storey earthen-walled storehouse in Toyoshina Takibe, Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2005. At 3 bays by 2 bays and 20 square meters, it is the smallest building on the estate.

It stands northwest of the pawn storehouse, its long axis running east to west and its front facing south. Its registration number is 20-0239.

As the name says, it was presumably where the household's miso was left to mature. The Agency for Cultural Affairs adds nothing about its use beyond the name.

Why It Was Registered

The Iida Family Residence Miso Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. It completes the group of domestic storehouses gathered northeast of the main house, alongside the pawn storehouse and the archive storehouse.

Small as it is, it was not built cheaply. Even the rafters and wall plates are sealed in plaster, the same finish applied to the larger storehouses, which shows the building was treated as part of the formal composition of the estate.

What to Look For

Look up at the eaves. They project a little further than usual, and because the rafters and plates are plastered over, the white surface carries on unbroken into the soffit. No timber is left showing.

The base of the walls is protected by Shitami-itabari, overlapping horizontal boards, rather than the Namako-kabe tiling of the pawn and archive storehouses. Reading that difference as a choice made by rank or use is one of the small pleasures of this estate.

There is a single entrance at the centre of the south side, fitted with a sliding door, and a window on the east side. The tiled Kirizuma-zukuri roof, with its generous overhang, looks large for the size of the Iida Family Residence Miso Storehouse.

Viewing the Miso Storehouse

The Iida Family Residence Miso Storehouse is inside a private residence and is not open to visitors.

It is a small building tucked among the storehouses northeast of the main house, so picking it out from the road is unlikely. Photography is limited to what can be seen from public roads.

Access information and advice on viewing the estate from outside are on the Iida Family Residence page.