Mizuhosu (Onishi Family Residence) Former Miso Storehouse

What the Mizuhosu (Onishi Family Residence) Former Miso Storehouse Is

The Mizuhosu (Onishi Family Residence) Former Miso Storehouse (瑞穂酢（大西家住宅）旧味噌蔵, kyū misogura) is a single-storey earthen-walled storehouse of the early Taisho era (1912 to 1918) in Nakamachi, Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture, entered on the register of Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 27 February 2023. It stands in the northeast corner of the Onishi vinegar brewery, facing west, with its gable end turned to the street on the north. It covers 31 square metres.

As the name says, it is remembered as the house's miso store. The owning company, Mizuho Co., Ltd., lists miso alongside rice vinegar among its products, and the building's name keeps that second line of business in view. It was repaired in the late Showa era and again in 2007.

Why It Was Listed

The Former Miso Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that, with the inner storehouse and the gatehouse, it faces the north street and forms the front of the estate. The east end of the gatehouse next door is joined to it, so from the road gate and store read as one run of building.

It is built in the Dozo-zukuri manner, thick earthen walls on a timber frame, under a gabled roof, Kirizuma-zukuri, of pantiles. The walls are sealed in Shikkui lime plaster right up to the eaves, and the base is clad in vertical boards of yakisugi, cedar whose surface has been charred. Charring makes the wood more resistant to rain and insects, and charred boards are a familiar skirting on storehouses in western Japan.

Its corner position counts too. With the inner storehouse at the northwest end of the frontage and this store at the northeast, a storehouse anchors each end of the street face, with the gatehouse between them.

What to Look For

The Mizuhosu (Onishi Family Residence) Former Miso Storehouse shows its gable to the street, so the full triangle of the roof faces the road. That sets it apart from the gatehouse beside it, which presents its long side. Watch the point where the low, horizontal roof of the gatehouse gives way to the steep triangle of the store.

The charred cedar lays a band of dark vertical lines along the base, in sharp contrast with the white plaster above. The inner storehouse at the other end of the frontage is also plastered to the eaves but has a plain boarded base, so comparing the two corners shows how finishes changed between 1891 and the Taisho years.

The building faces west, with its door opening inward toward the gatehouse rather than onto the street. Miso went in and out from inside the compound.

Visiting

The Mizuhosu (Onishi Family Residence) Former Miso Storehouse is on private land and its interior is closed (checked 17 September 2026). The west-facing door is inside the enclosure.

The gable end and charred-cedar base can be seen from the public road on the north side. Since the store is directly east of the gatehouse, simply let your eye travel east after looking at the gate. No guidance on photography is published; choose a spot that does not get in the way of people coming and going.