The Miso Store on the Western Edge
West of the South Storehouse, running along the western boundary of the Miharaya grounds, stands the West Storehouse (Nishigura). It is a two-storey earthen-walled building of about six by two and a half ken, set north to south, with a pantile roof (sangawara-buki) and a gabled form. The building area is around 55 square metres, and its long-standing job was the storage of miso.
The West Storehouse dates from around 1877 and carries the registration number 20-0126. Its main entrance sits near the centre of the long east side, and a connecting opening on the upper floor links it to the neighbouring South Storehouse.
One of the Brewing-Quarter Storehouses
Where the shop and its street-facing storehouses were built partly for show, the West Storehouse belongs to the working back of the property, the cluster of storehouses in the southern, brewing part of the grounds. Here the concern is capacity and stable temperature rather than facade, and the plain gabled form reflects that purpose.
The upper-floor link to the South Storehouse is a small but telling detail. It shows how the storehouses were used as a connected system, goods and materials moving between them rather than each standing apart.
Registered as Part of the Whole
The West Storehouse was entered on the register in 2003 as one of six Miharaya buildings judged to contribute to the historic landscape. On its own it is a modest miso store; within the group it is one of the elements that make up the brewing quarter, and its value is inseparable from that setting.
Because the storehouse still serves the brewery, its interior is not open to the public. What the register protects is the ensemble: shop, street storehouses, and the working stores behind, read together as a single Meiji merchant complex.
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Questions & Answers
- What was the West Storehouse used for?
- It was used as a miso storehouse, one of the working stores in the brewing part of the Miharaya grounds.
- How is it connected to the other buildings?
- It sits west of the South Storehouse, with a connecting opening on its upper floor linking the two.
- How big is it?
- About 55 square metres, roughly six by two and a half ken, a two-storey gabled earthen building with a pantile roof.
- When was it built?
- Around 1877, in the same phase as the other storehouses in the group.
- Can I visit inside?
- No; it is a private working storehouse. The Miharaya complex is best appreciated from the surrounding streets.
Basic Information
| Name | Miharaya Shoten Nishigura (West Storehouse) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1151-1 Goten, Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (registration no. 20-0126) |
| Registered | 18 March 2003 (gazetted 8 April 2003) |
| Count | 1 building |
| Structure | Earthen-walled, two storeys, pantile roof; building area approx. 55 m2 |
| Date | Around 1877 (early Meiji era) |
| Use | Miso storehouse |
| Owner | Miharaya Co., Ltd. |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database — Miharaya Shoten West Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003239
- Nagano City — List of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties
- https://www.city.nagano.nagano.jp/n151100/contents/p002914.html
- Miharaya Co., Ltd. — official site
- https://miharaya.co.jp/
Last verified: 2026.07.05