Matsuyama Family Residence Barley Storehouse

About the Matsuyama Family Residence Barley Storehouse

The Matsuyama Family Residence Barley Storehouse (松山家住宅麦蔵, Matsuyama-ke Jūtaku Mugigura) is a single-storey Dozo-zukuri earth-walled storehouse of the early Showa period (1926 to 1945) in Nishinoshinyacho, Nara City, Nara Prefecture, entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on November 17, 2015.

It was a grain store of the Matsuyama family, who ran a rice wholesale business here until the years before the Second World War, and Nara City describes it simply as the merchant house's grain store. It stands beyond the connecting corridor with its ridge running east to west, facing south. The sources describe its position slightly differently: the Agency for Cultural Affairs places it west of the corridor, while Nara City places it behind the corridor.

Walls Finished by Face, and the Nisurigi Battens

The barley storehouse measures 6.9 m by 4.9 m, with a building area of 45 m². It has a Kirizuma-zukuri gable in Sangawara-buki pantiles and a Geya lean-to roof across the front. Nara City rounds the dimensions to about 7 m by 5 m.

Each face of the building is finished differently. The walls are based on white Shikkui plaster, with a thickened Hachimaki band under the eaves. The two sides and the back are clad in vertical Tateita-bari boarding, and only the base of the front is finished in mortar. The front and the other three faces are thus treated in different ways.

Inside, the walls were left at the intermediate coat of plaster and fitted with nisurigi, horizontal battens fixed to a storehouse's inner walls so that heavy loads such as sacks or bales of grain do not gouge the earth plaster when they are stacked against it. Nara City adds a note explaining the term. Their survival shows that the Matsuyama Family Residence Barley Storehouse was a working store where grain went in and out, not a showpiece.

Why the Barley Storehouse Was Registered

The Matsuyama Family Residence Barley Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency says it contributes to the setting of a Naramachi merchant house, and Nara City values it as a grain store of a rice merchant that keeps its original condition. Nara City also notes that the corridor and the barley storehouse together frame a traditional Nara courtyard; in the city's photograph the storehouse stands at the far end of that courtyard.

Visiting the Barley Storehouse

There are no heritage opening days, the Matsuyama Family Residence Barley Storehouse cannot be seen from the street, and no interior opening has been confirmed. The tearoom Sabo Nonnon operates inside the main house north wing, and Nara Prefecture's tourism site, Naraiko, says the courtyard can be enjoyed from its seats (checked October 2026). How much of the storehouse is visible from there is unconfirmed, but it is the only place where a visitor might see its exterior.

There is no official guidance on photography; inside, follow the tearoom's rules. Directions to the estate are on the Matsuyama Family Residence page.