Iioka Family Residence Rice Storehouse

What is the Iioka Family Residence Rice Storehouse?

The Iioka Family Residence Rice Storehouse (飯岡家住宅米蔵, Iioka-ke Jūtaku Komegura) is a storehouse of the late Meiji period (1898 to 1911) in Motokamitaguchi, Taguchi, in the Murō district of Uda City, Nara Prefecture, and was entered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 10 September 2010.

It is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri building with earthen walls and a tiled roof, covering 39 square metres. At 9.9 metres along the ridge (Ketayuki) and only 4.0 metres deep (Harima) it is long and narrow, and it stands on the eastern edge of the property with its ridge running north to south.

It is the youngest of the three buildings of the Iioka Family Residence, built more than 100 years after the inner storehouse of 1790. The Edo-period house and inner storehouse were joined, toward the end of the Meiji era, by a separate store for rice.

Why the Iioka Family Residence Rice Storehouse was registered

The Iioka Family Residence Rice Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape of the nation. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as the building that finishes the view along the east end of the homestead.

Where the inner storehouse sits close to the main house, the rice storehouse presents a long wall along the boundary. Its role in marking the eastern edge of the property is the core of its value.

A dressed-stone base and a namako doorway

The Iioka Family Residence Rice Storehouse stands on a foundation of dressed stone and carries a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki tiles built as an Okiyane, a separate roof set over the sealed earthen store. The walls are finished in Shikkui lime plaster, and Namako-kabe tile work survives only around the doorway on the south side.

Windows open on the west side at both the ground and upper floors. The east side faces outward from the property, so the openings appear to have been turned toward the inside of the homestead. A stone base and windows suit a store for rice, which spoils in damp.

Plain plaster inside and a traditional roof frame

Inside the Iioka Family Residence Rice Storehouse, the walls are left at the intermediate coat of plaster rather than taken to a finished surface. The roof is carried on a Wagoya frame, with posts standing on the beams to support the roof timbers.

The exterior is dressed in white plaster and namako tiles, while the interior is purely practical. The Agency's description mentions none of the decorative trowelled plaster found around the doorway of the inner storehouse.

Visiting the Iioka Family Residence Rice Storehouse

The Iioka Family Residence Rice Storehouse is privately owned, and no interior opening has been announced. The plastered interior and the roof frame cannot be seen from outside.

Because it stands on the eastern boundary, its long side may be visible if a road runs along the east of the property, but we have not confirmed what can be seen from the surrounding roads. Please do not enter the grounds. Directions to the homestead are on the Iioka Family Residence page.