Mizuhosu (Onishi Family Residence) Inner Storehouse and North Earthen Wall

What the Mizuhosu (Onishi Family Residence) Inner Storehouse and North Earthen Wall Are

The Mizuhosu (Onishi Family Residence) Inner Storehouse and North Earthen Wall (瑞穂酢（大西家住宅）内蔵及び北築地塀, uchigura oyobi kita tsuijibei) are a storehouse and a roofed earthen wall built in 1891 in Nakamachi, Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture, and entered on the register of Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 27 February 2023. The two-storey timber-framed storehouse stands northwest of the main house on the north street and covers 19 square metres. The earthen wall runs 8.6 metres east of it.

An uchigura, or inner storehouse, is where a household kept its valuables and its better tableware and furnishings. This one held the family's property rather than anything to do with vinegar, and it is linked to the main house through a covered forecourt, the kuramae, so goods could be moved in and out without stepping into the rain.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that it was put up before the brewery buildings and before the main house was rebuilt. Of the eleven structures listed on the site, the Mizuhosu (Onishi Family Residence) Inner Storehouse and North Earthen Wall is the only one dated to an exact year.

Why It Was Listed

The Inner Storehouse and North Earthen Wall were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape. The agency points out that the storehouse and the earthen wall to its east together form one corner of the estate. With the gatehouse and the former miso storehouse, the white store and the tile-capped wall make up the face the Onishi house shows to the street.

The storehouse follows the standard recipe for a fire-resistant earthen store. Its gabled, tiled roof is an okiyane, a roof built as a separate layer and set on top of the thick-walled body. Eaves and walls alike are sealed in Shikkui lime plaster so that no timber is exposed, and only the base of the wall is faced with boards to protect the vulnerable lower edge.

The date matters. The vinegar licence came in 1894 and the main house was rebuilt in the early Taisho era. Before investing in a works or a new home, this family built a place to keep its possessions safe.

What to Look For

The thing to notice on the Mizuhosu (Onishi Family Residence) Inner Storehouse and North Earthen Wall is the outline of the store, plastered white right up to the eaves. Wrapping the rafters and eave beams in lime turns the edge of the roof into a thick, soft band. The tiled okiyane sits above it, and watching where wall meets roof is the easiest way to read how the building is put together.

At 19 square metres it is the smallest of the eleven listed structures, yet it rises to two storeys, presumably to stack belongings on a small footprint. The tall, narrow store and the low wall beside it turn the corner of the street frontage.

The north wall is built of earth, capped with tile, and only 8.6 metres long. Compare the line of its coping with the eaves of the storehouse: the step in height gives the street front depth.

Visiting

The Mizuhosu (Onishi Family Residence) Inner Storehouse and North Earthen Wall belong to a private estate, and the interior of the store is closed (checked 17 September 2026). The kuramae and the link to the main house are inside the enclosure.

Both structures stand on the north street, though, so their exteriors can be seen from the public road as you walk by: the plaster walls, the boarded base and the tiled top of the wall. If you stop, step to the edge of the road so as not to block traffic.