A Late Edo Plank Store Beside the Guest Wing
Nakabusa Onsen Itakura Storehouse (中房温泉板倉, Nakabusa Onsen Itakura) is a single-storey timber storehouse of the late Edo period at Nakabusa Onsen in Hodaka Ariake, Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 25 July 2011. Its registration number, 20-0378, is the last of the spa's seven.
An itakura is a store walled in wooden planks. This one stands just east of the Main Building Kiku under a gabled sheet-metal roof running east to west. It measures 6.1 metres by 4.6 metres, with a building area of 28 square metres, and is divided inside into two rooms, east and west.
Hoyano Shigeo of Shinshu University counts it, together with the Storehouse, among the structures that show what Nakabusa looked like before the modern era, when the valley was worked for alum and the bathing hut was a sideline. It was presumably built to hold tools and supplies, though the registration record does not state its original use.
How It Is Put Together
The construction is simple enough to read at a glance. A sill runs round on a cut-stone foundation; square posts stand on it in a grid of 4 by 3 ken bays; and horizontal planks are dropped in from above between the posts to form the walls. Beams and purlins carry the roof, and the rafters are a single, widely spaced layer.
It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it simply as having a rustic character, which is fair: almost nothing here is decorative.
Dropped-in plank walls have a practical logic. Because each board slides down between grooved posts, a single rotten plank can be pulled out and replaced without disturbing the rest. The Nakabusa Onsen Itakura Storehouse is a store built from mountain timber and kept going with mountain timber.
What to Look For
Get close to the walls first. Plank sits on plank between each pair of posts, so horizontal joints run across every face. If the boards look slightly different in width and colour, that may be the trace of repairs made one board at a time over many decades.
Then look down. The posts do not stand in the earth; they rest on a sill laid over dressed stone, which keeps the timber clear of snowmelt and damp.
Immediately to the southeast is the Storehouse, another late Edo store but two storeys tall and apparently finished with an earthen coat over its planks. Seen together, the pair show two ways of finishing a mountain storehouse.
Seeing the Building
The Nakabusa Onsen Itakura Storehouse stands inside a working inn. Its exterior can be seen from within the grounds by overnight guests and by those booking one of the inn's day plans, which include a walk past the registered buildings. Interior access is not advertised.
No photography rule is posted, but guests move through this area, so be considerate. Season and transport details are on the Nakabusa Onsen page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Nagano
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Nakabusa Onsen Itakura Storehouse
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Q&A
- When was Nakabusa Onsen Itakura Storehouse built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the late Edo period. No exact year is recorded.
- How is Nakabusa Onsen Itakura Storehouse constructed?
- Square posts stand on a sill over a cut-stone foundation, with horizontal planks dropped in between them to form the walls. It is a single-storey gabled building with a sheet-metal roof, divided into two rooms.
- How large is Nakabusa Onsen Itakura Storehouse?
- It measures 6.1 metres by 4.6 metres, with a building area of 28 square metres.
- Can visitors see Nakabusa Onsen Itakura Storehouse?
- Overnight guests and day-plan users can see the exterior from within the grounds. Interior access is not advertised.
- How does Nakabusa Onsen Itakura Storehouse differ from the Nakabusa Onsen Storehouse?
- Both are late Edo stores. The Itakura Storehouse is single-storey with bare plank walls; the Storehouse is two storeys and appears to have had its plank walls coated with earth. They stand side by side east of the Main Building Kiku.
Basic Information
| Name | Nakabusa Onsen Itakura Storehouse (中房温泉板倉) |
|---|---|
| Location | 7226 Hodaka Ariake and other lots, Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure), registration number 20-0378 |
| Year Designated | Registered 2011/07/25 (Heisei 23) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber building, gabled sheet-metal roof, building area 28 sq m, 6.1 m by 4.6 m |
| Owner | Nakabusa Onsen Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Exterior viewable within the grounds by overnight guests and day-plan users; interior access not advertised |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Nakabusa Onsen Itakura Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008691
- Cultural Heritage Online: Nakabusa Onsen Itakura Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/213732
- Hoyano Shigeo, essay on the mountain culture of Nakabusa Onsen (Nakabusa Onsen website)
- https://nakabusa.com/pdf/historyandnature_03.pdf
- Nakabusa Onsen official website (baths, history, day plans)
- https://nakabusa.com/
Last verified: 2026.09.25
