What the Kodama Family Residence Miso Room and Drying Room Is
The Kodama Family Residence Miso Room and Drying Room is a single-storey timber building of about 1901 in the Wa district of Tomi City, Nagano Prefecture, entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2000 under the number 20-0082.
It fills the gap between the storehouse and the row house, its ridge running north to south. A miso room of 2 bays by 2 and a drying room of 4 bays by 2 sit end to end under one pantiled gable roof, with a combined building area of 40 square metres.
The Kodama family had brewed miso and soy sauce since the early Meiji years. The room that gives the building half its name ties the compound to that trade.
Why It Was Registered
The listing criterion is contribution to the historic landscape. On its own this is a small structure, but it closes the space between two larger ones and turns the southeastern part of the compound into a continuous wall.
The national register notes that the east wall is finished in white plaster flush with the row house, and that the west roof slope turns at a right angle to meet the lean-to eave on the north side of the storehouse. Matching heights and planes with the buildings on either side is careful work for a service structure, and the register remarks on the attention paid to how it is seen, inside and out.
What to Look For
Start with the east wall. Because it is flush with the row house, the junction between the two buildings disappears above eye level and the eastern side of the compound reads as one long plastered face.
On the west side the roof does the talking. The slope turns squarely into the lean-to eave of the storehouse, sending rainwater toward the storehouse side while keeping a passage open between the two buildings.
The two halves were never equal. The 2-bay miso room held brewing and storage; the 4-bay drying room dealt with the harvest. Household work and family business share a single roof.
Visiting the Kodama Family Residence Miso Room and Drying Room
The building stands inside a private compound and its interior is closed. Guided viewing on café opening days brings visitors alongside it.
Nothing of it can be seen from the public road, since it sits between the storehouse and the row house. Once inside, walk round to the east and stand where the north face of the storehouse meets the south end of the row house; the three buildings then line up in one view. Ask before photographing.
Directions and viewing conditions for the compound are on the Kodama Family Residence page.
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Q&A
- When was the Kodama Family Residence Miso Room and Drying Room built?
- The national register dates it to about 1901, the same phase as the storehouse, the row house and the front gate.
- How is the Kodama Family Residence Miso Room and Drying Room arranged?
- A miso room of 2 bays by 2 and a drying room of 4 bays by 2 run end to end in a single-storey building of 40 square metres.
- Can visitors see the Kodama Family Residence Miso Room and Drying Room?
- The interior is closed, but guided viewing on café opening days brings you close to the outside.
- Why is this building on the national register?
- It was listed for contributing to the historic landscape, with its east wall flush with the row house and its west roof turned into the storehouse eave.
- Why does the compound have a miso room?
- The Kodama family brewed miso and soy sauce from the early Meiji years, and the trade kept a working room inside the compound.
Basic Information
| Name | Kodama Family Residence Miso Room and Drying Room |
|---|---|
| Location | 7785 Oaza Wa, Tomi City, Nagano Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2000 (Heisei 12) |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber frame, tile roof, building area 40 square metres |
| Owner | Yamatama Limited Company |
| Public Access | Inside a private compound; interior closed, seen on guided viewing |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Kodama Family Residence Miso Room and Drying Room
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001817
- Tomi City: Kodama Family Residence
- https://www.city.tomi.nagano.jp/category/kenzobutsu/160195.html
Last verified: 2026.09.17
