Tatsumi Family Residence First Rice Storehouse

Part of the Working Row on the East Side

The Tatsumi Family Residence First Rice Storehouse (辰巳家住宅一の米蔵, Tatsumi-ke Jūtaku Ichi-no-komegura) is a two-story Dozo-zukuri rice storehouse built in 1915 in Hōryūji-nishi, Ikaruga Town, Nara Prefecture, and registered as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property on April 24, 2001. It stands toward the southern end of the east side of the Tatsumi estate, ridge running north to south, with the barn to its north and the Second Rice Storehouse, in the southeast corner, to its south.

The roof is a gable (Kirizuma-zukuri) of Sangawara-buki pan tiles. With a building area of 40 square meters, it is the smallest of the three rice storehouses. The official description notes that it is slightly smaller than the two rice stores to the south but built in much the same solid form, and in good condition.

One Eave for Three Buildings

The west side of the Tatsumi Family Residence First Rice Storehouse is its front, and it carries an eave. That eave does not stop at this building: it runs on as one continuous line with the eaves of the barn to the north and the Second Rice Storehouse to the south.

Moving harvested rice in and out goes more smoothly under a single roof. A shared eave linking three buildings suggests the rice stores and barn worked as one yard. It also ties together buildings of different heights into a single row.

The storehouse was registered, as number 29-0054, as a structure that would be difficult to reproduce.

A Note on the Database Entry

In the Agency for Cultural Affairs database, the entry for the First Rice Storehouse carries a description of a tile-roofed storehouse at the west end of the north side, next to the gatehouse, while the entry for the First Storehouse describes one on the southern part of the east side. This article reads the second description as belonging to the Tatsumi Family Residence First Rice Storehouse.

The registration data give this building a west eave and the First Storehouse a south eave, and the east-side description mentions an eave along the west front. The barn's description says the barn stands north of a rice storehouse with a continuous eave from the storehouse to its south, which matches. The Second Storehouse's description and the database map both place the First Storehouse in the northwest. The texts appear to have been swapped, though confirmation from the database's maintainers is still needed.

Visiting

According to the official descriptions, the rice stores, barn and charcoal shed along the east side shape how the estate looks from the east. From outside the east wall you may be able to pick out the line of their roofs, but the eave-covered front of the Tatsumi Family Residence First Rice Storehouse faces inward and cannot be seen.

The estate is a private home, and no public opening had been announced as of September 2026. Location and directions are on the Tatsumi Family Residence page.