Tatsumi Family Residence First Storehouse

One Wing of the North Front

The Tatsumi Family Residence First Storehouse (辰巳家住宅一の蔵, Tatsumi-ke Jūtaku Ichi-no-kura) is a two-story Dozo-zukuri clay-walled 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 occupies the west end of the north side of the Tatsumi estate and, together with the gatehouse just east of center, forms the public face of the house.

It has a building area of 64 square meters and an eave on its south side. Immediately to the south, the Second Storehouse meets it at a right angle; the two are close in size and form. The east eave of the Second Storehouse doubles as an open passage from the main house to the First Storehouse.

Walls Dressed Two Ways

The roof is a gable (Kirizuma-zukuri) of heavy Hongawarabuki tiles, and the walls are finished in lime plaster. What changes is the lower wall. On the sides facing the yard, the base is covered in Namako-kabe, square tiles set on the diagonal with raised plaster joints. On the north side, which faces the lane outside, tall vertical boards run high up the wall.

Namako tiling resists rain and fire and also looks handsome. Board cladding is a plainer shield for a wall that takes the weather head-on. The Tatsumi Family Residence First Storehouse wears its good clothes for the household and its work clothes for the street.

The storehouse was registered, as number 29-0049, under the criterion for structures that would be difficult to reproduce. The official description praises the careful workmanship and names it, alongside the gatehouse, as a key element of the estate's front.

A Note on the Database Entry

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

Four pieces of evidence support that reading. The description of the Second Storehouse places the First Storehouse in the northwest quarter. The registration data give the First Storehouse a south eave and the First Rice Storehouse a west eave, and the east-side description mentions an eave on its west front. The barn's description says a rice storehouse stands south of it on the east side. And the database map places the First Storehouse at the northwest and the First Rice Storehouse on the east edge. The texts appear to have been swapped, though confirmation from the database's maintainers is still needed.

Visiting

The Tatsumi Family Residence First Storehouse faces the north lane alongside the gatehouse, so its tall board cladding and tiled roof can be seen from outside. The namako-tiled walls face into the yard and are not visible.

The estate is a private home. As of September 2026 no opening has been announced and the grounds are closed. If you take photos, do so briefly and without lingering at the gate or wall. Location and directions are on the Tatsumi Family Residence page.