What the Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse Is
Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse (Suhara Family Residence Small Parlor and Storehouse), at Tonomine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, is a late-Edo-period building that became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 3 April 2020. The name is literal: a reception room and a storehouse, two different uses, are carried by one structure.
It was built between 1751 and 1830 and stands northwest of the main house. The frame is timber over 2 floors, with a floor area of 44 square metres. The eastern half, the parlor, takes an Irimoya-zukuri roof; the western half, the storehouse, takes a Kirizuma-zukuri roof carried on a separate frame above the walls. The roof form therefore changes partway along the ridge.
The parlor is a single 6-mat room with an alcove, shelving and a closet along its north wall. A veranda runs from the south round to the east, and on the storehouse side a passage half a bay wide leads to the storehouse door. That narrow passage is the only link between the two halves.
Why the Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse Was Listed
The Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse was listed for its contribution to the historic landscape of the country, valued as the building that occupies the northwest corner of the compound rather than as an object in its own right.
Its interest lies in the refusal to separate. A room for receiving people and a room for keeping possessions could easily have been built apart; here they are joined. The same instinct governs the main house of the compound, where the guest rooms and the kitchen wing share one roof. The Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse repeats that idea at a smaller scale, which makes it a useful index of how this household built.
The fittings of the 6-mat room deserve attention too. An alcove and shelving belong to the Shoin-zukuri tradition of formal room decoration, and fitting both into a room of that size shows the parlor was meant to receive guests, even if it never claimed the standing of the guest hall.
What to Look For at the Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse
From outside, the two roofs tell the story. The parlor at the east is Irimoya-zukuri; the storehouse at the west carries a Kirizuma-zukuri roof built as a separate structure resting over the walls. Separating roof from wall in this way keeps damp and heat away from what is stored beneath, so the difference in form follows directly from the difference in use.
The walls divide horizontally as well. On the storehouse, the lower band is clad in charred boards laid vertically, and everything above it is finished in Shikkui plaster. Charring the boards protects the part of the wall that rain splashes back onto. White above, black below, with a clean line where they meet.
The detail worth knowing about inside is that connecting passage. Half a bay wide, about 90 centimetres, it both divides the parlor from the storehouse and joins them. The long name of the Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse comes down to that one corridor.
Access to the Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse
The Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse is privately owned and closed to visitors. No open day or special opening appears in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database or on the Sakurai City cultural properties pages. It stands well back in the northwest of the compound and is not a building arranged to be seen from beyond the boundary.
The charred boarding, the separately framed roof and the arrangement of the connecting passage can all be examined in the descriptive text and photographs held in the national database, which is where research on the Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse should start.
Directions to the compound and the visiting conditions that apply to all of Former Jimon-in (Suhara Family Residence) are set out on the group page.
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Q&A
- Can the Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse be visited?
- No. It is privately owned, the interior is closed, and no visiting arrangements are published. The land is private property.
- Is the Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse one building or two?
- One. The parlor at the east and the storehouse at the west are joined by a passage half a bay wide and were listed together as a single building.
- What does the separately framed roof on the Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse do?
- It rests above the storehouse walls on its own frame rather than bearing on them, which slows the passage of damp and heat into the store.
- Why do the walls of the Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse change colour partway up?
- The lower band is charred boarding laid vertically and the upper part is plaster. Charred boards guard the foot of the wall against splashing rain.
- How large is the parlor in the Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse?
- A single room of 6 tatami mats, with an alcove, shelving and a closet on the north side and a veranda running from south to east.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse (Suhara Family Residence Small Parlor and Storehouse) |
|---|---|
| Location | 316 Tonomine, Sakurai, Nara Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered on 2020/4/3 (Reiwa 2) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2 floors, tile roof, floor area 44 square metres |
| Owner | Private individual (not published in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database) |
| Public Access | Not open. Neither interior nor grounds are open to visitors |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database: Former Jimon-in Small Parlor and Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013310
- Agency for Cultural Affairs: Report of the Council for Cultural Affairs on new registrations, 15 November 2019
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/yukei_kenzobutsu/pdf/91972801_02.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.14
