A Small Granary at the Center of the Estate
The Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Grain Storehouse is a two-story earthen-walled storehouse built in 1897 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）穀蔵, Satō-ke Jūtaku (Mitsubiki) Kokugura, a storehouse for grain.
It stands south of the main house facing east, with its ridge running east to west. It measures three bays by two and a half, covers 25 square meters and has a gabled tile roof.
1897 is also the year a book of copperplate views, Nihon Hakuranzu, pictured the estate. Ueda City counts the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Grain Storehouse among the buildings renovated as the egg trade boomed between late Edo and Meiji.
Why It Was Registered
The registration criterion is contribution to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Grain Storehouse as small but defining the look of the center of the estate.
On the plan, the main house sits to the north, the long Silkworm Room at the south end, and the Storage Shed and gate along the east edge. In the middle of all that stands the granary. It cannot compete in size with the main house or the Silkworm Room, but a compact block of earthen wall at the center pulls the whole compound together.
Amid buildings devoted to the egg trade, the granary guarded the household's food and stores. It shows plainly how work buildings and domestic storage shared one piece of ground.
What to Look For
The doorway is in the east gable end under a small pent roof, and there is just one window, in the upper story. The walls are plastered up under the eaves and finished at the middle coat.
Both floors are single wood-floored rooms, most likely to keep grain off the damp ground, and the openings are held to the east door and one small upper window, the closed-up form of a proper storehouse. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database has a photograph of the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Grain Storehouse from the east showing the gable door, its pent roof and the upper window.
Visiting the Grain Storehouse
The Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Grain Storehouse stands at the center of a private estate 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) Grain 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) Grain Storehouse built?
- It was built in 1897 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on June 24, 2021.
- How big is the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Grain Storehouse?
- It is a two-story earthen-walled storehouse, three bays by two and a half, covering 25 square meters under a gabled tile roof, with a doorway and pent roof in the east gable end.
- What is inside the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Grain Storehouse?
- Both floors are single wood-floored rooms. There is only one window, in the upper story, and the walls are plastered up under the eaves.
- Where on the estate is the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Grain Storehouse?
- It stands at the center of the lot, south of the main house, facing east. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as small but defining the look of the center of the estate.
Basic Information
| Name | Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) Grain 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 25 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) Grain Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013793
- 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
