Nakamura Family Residence Front Storehouse

The Nakamura Family Residence Front Storehouse

The Nakamura Family Residence Front Storehouse (中村家住宅表土蔵, Nakamura-ke Jūtaku Omote Dozō) in Misato Yutaka, Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture, is a two-story earthen storehouse built in 1820, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on March 27, 2006. Of the five registered buildings on the Nakamura homestead, it is the oldest with a firm construction date.

It stands in front of the main house, on the south side of the forecourt. The storehouse measures 3 ken by 2 and a half ken, with a building area of 25 square meters, and is built in the Dozo-zukuri manner with thick clay walls under a gabled pantile roof. The roof is an okiyane, a separately framed roof set down on top of the sealed clay body of the storehouse.

Why it was registered

The Nakamura Family Residence Front Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. It faces the forecourt and is tied to the main house by a gate and fence, so together with the house it makes up the view of the homestead from the front.

An okiyane keeps the roof structurally apart from the walls. The roof sheds the rain clear of the clay body, and if the roof catches fire, the body of the storehouse is thought to stand a better chance of surviving. With its 1820 date, the building is a clear record of how storehouses were put together in the Edo period.

What to look for

The interior of the Nakamura Family Residence Front Storehouse is lined with boards over the clay. The roof framing uses an ushibari, a heavy beam running the length of the roof space, together with noboribari, rafter-beams that follow the slope of the roof. The arrangement leaves generous headroom on the upper floor.

The exterior is finished at the nakanuri stage. Storehouse walls are normally built up in layers, from a rough base coat through an intermediate coat to a final coat of white lime plaster. Stopping at the intermediate coat leaves the walls in a quieter, earth-toned finish. A window opens in the gable on the upper floor.

There are two doorways. The west side opens with a sliding door, and on the north side a small eave shelters a second entrance. That northern door faces back toward the forecourt, which suggests it was placed with trips from the main house in mind.

Visiting

The Nakamura Family Residence Front Storehouse belongs to a private home and is not open. The grounds cannot be entered, and no contact for viewing or photography is published (checked September 2026).

The location of the homestead and general notes for visitors are on the Nakamura Family Residence (Azumino) page.