Okamoto Family Residence Storage Shed

What Is the Okamoto Family Residence Storage Shed?

The Okamoto Family Residence Storage Shed (岡本家住宅物置, Okamoto-ke Jūtaku Monooki) is a single-storey timber shed of 1906 on the southern boundary of the back half of the Okamoto Family Residence plot in Yagicho 2-chome, Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture; together with the earthen walls running east and west from it, it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 29 November 2016. The shed covers 14 square meters, the smallest of the six registered buildings.

It has a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof. The registration covers more than the small shed, however: an earthen wall 56 meters long runs along the southern edge of the plot, with the shed built into its middle.

A 56-Meter Wall with Open Bays

From outside, the wall of the Okamoto Storage Shed is simply a boundary. On the inside it was a working space. Posts stand along the property side every 1.5 to 2 ken (about 2.7 to 3.6 meters), creating open bays backed by the wall, roofed but without walls of their own, lined up along its length.

Near the middle is the shed itself, 3 ken by 1.5 ken (about 5.5 by 2.7 meters). Wall, shed and open bays form one long, narrow structure.

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, it is said to have held miscellaneous goods, ash and firewood. Ash served as fuel, fertilizer and a cleaning agent, and firewood fed the kitchen stove and the bath. This was the back-of-house space that kept the household running, out of sight of the shop and the tatami rooms.

A Glimpse of the Back of the Plot

The Agency values the Okamoto Family Residence Storage Shed as a record of the western half of the site. The eastern half, near the street, holds the Store and Main House, the corridor, the Annex and the Inner Storehouse; the western half holds the Large Annex and this shed. The east was where the family lived and did business, the west where things were stored and work was done.

With the walled shed registered as one of the six buildings, the Okamoto Family Residence survives as a whole, from its front to its back.

It was registered for contributing to the historic landscape.

Visiting the Okamoto Storage Shed

The Okamoto Family Residence Storage Shed is part of a private home and is not open to the public. It lies on the southern boundary at the back of the plot and cannot be seen from the Shimotsumichi road.

Only the street front of the Store and Main House is visible from outside. The layout of the site and directions are on the Okamoto Family Residence page.