A Storehouse Crowned With the Family Crest
The Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Document Storehouse is a two-story earthen-walled storehouse built in 1898 on the estate of a silkworm-egg producer in Kamishiojiri, Ueda, Nagano Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on June 24, 2021. In Japanese it is 佐藤家住宅（三ツ引）文庫蔵, Satō-ke Jūtaku (Mitsubiki) Bunkogura. A bunkogura is the storehouse where a household kept its papers and valuables.
It stands just west of the main house, its ridge running north to south, under a gabled tile roof. At 31 square meters it is the largest of the earthen-walled buildings on the estate.
The sources differ on its date. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database gives 1898. Ueda City, however, counts the Document Storehouse among buildings renovated between late Edo and Meiji and says the estate was pictured in a book of copperplate views published in 1897. The engraving may show an earlier version of the storehouse, but the records do not say.
Why It Was Registered
The registration criterion is contribution to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs picks out one feature of the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Document Storehouse above all: the oversized end tile, an Onigawara, bearing the family crest, set on the ridge.
A crested ridge tile puts the family's emblem on the skyline. Here a household that had served as village headman and prospered on silkworm eggs chose an especially large one for the building that held its records, a sign of how much weight this storehouse carried among the estate's buildings.
The interior points the same way. The ground floor is a single wood-floored room; the upper floor is a single room laid with tatami. Upper-floor tatami is not unheard of in storehouses, but in the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Document Storehouse it suggests a space also used for going through papers or laying out valued possessions.
What to Look For
The entrance is in the north gable end. In front of it, a lean-to roofed in copper sheet, a Geya, shelters the doorway so that goods could be moved in and out even in rain.
The walls are plastered right up under the eaves and finished at the middle coat. Windows open to the south and east, away from the entrance side. Look up at the ridge and the crested end tile stands out at once: it is clearly bigger than a building of this size would need.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs database has a photograph of the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Document Storehouse taken from the north, showing the copper-roofed lean-to and the gable entrance.
Visiting the Document Storehouse
The Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Document Storehouse stands inside a private estate, west of the main house, and is not open to the public. We could not confirm how much of it is visible from outside the property, and we found no published guidance on photography.
Directions to the estate and the story of the whole compound are on the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) page.
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Q&A
- Can you visit the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Document Storehouse?
- No. It stands inside a private estate and is not open to the public, and there is no published guidance on photography. A photograph of the exterior is available in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database.
- When was the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Document Storehouse built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs database dates it to 1898. Ueda City lists it among buildings renovated between late Edo and Meiji, and its relationship to the estate's appearance in a book of engravings published in 1897 is unclear. It was registered on June 24, 2021.
- What is on the ridge tile of the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Document Storehouse?
- The end tile on the ridge carries the family crest. It is unusually large for the size of the building, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs highlights it as the storehouse's defining feature.
- What is inside the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Document Storehouse?
- The ground floor is a single wood-floored room and the upper floor a single tatami room. The entrance is in the north gable end, sheltered by a copper-roofed lean-to.
- How big is the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Document Storehouse?
- It is a two-story earthen-walled storehouse covering 31 square meters under a gabled tile roof, the largest earthen-walled building on the estate.
Basic Information
| Name | Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Document Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 90 Minamigawa, Kamishiojiri, Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2021/6/24 (Reiwa 3) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Earthen storehouse construction, 2 stories, tiled roof, building area 31 square meters |
| Owner | Private owner (name not published) |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (private estate) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Document Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013792
- Cultural Properties of Ueda City (Ueda Citizens' ICT Promotion Center): Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki)
- https://museum.umic.jp/bunkazai/document2/127.php
Last verified: 2026.09.26
