Tatsumi Family Residence Third Rice Storehouse

The Biggest of the Rice Stores

The Tatsumi Family Residence Third Rice Storehouse (辰巳家住宅三の米蔵, Tatsumi-ke Jūtaku San-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 on the south side of the Tatsumi estate, just west of the Second Rice Storehouse in the southeast corner.

At 60 square meters of building area, it outsizes the First Rice Storehouse (40 square meters) and the Second (48 square meters). It has a gabled (Kirizuma-zukuri) roof of heavy Hongawarabuki tiles and an eave on the north side.

Low, Broad and Well Made

The official description is candid that this storehouse does not stand tall, then turns to its quality. It gains its volume by spreading out rather than rising up.

The walls sit on a foundation of dressed, cut stone. Bold noki-jabara plaster moldings wrap the eaves, and a deep eave projects over the north front. Heavy tiles and that deep eave on a low body give the building a planted, solid look. It is described as well preserved.

The Tatsumi Family Residence Third Rice Storehouse was registered, as number 29-0056, as a structure that would be difficult to reproduce. Three trades meet in it: the mason who cut and laid the stone, the plasterer who built up the moldings, and the carpenter who framed the deep eave.

A Note on the Database Entry

In the Agency for Cultural Affairs database, the entry for the Third Rice Storehouse describes a small inner storehouse with a separate roof, adjoining the tea room, while the entry for the Third Storehouse describes a large storehouse beside the Second Rice Storehouse. This article treats the second description as the one that belongs to the Tatsumi Family Residence Third Rice Storehouse.

That description calls the building the largest of three. The Third Rice Storehouse, at 60 square meters, is the largest rice store, while the Third Storehouse, at 28 square meters, is the smallest storehouse of all. The registration data list a north eave for the Third Rice Storehouse and none for the Third Storehouse, matching the description's deep north eave. The descriptions of the tea room and corridor, and the database map, point the same way. The texts appear to have been swapped, though confirmation from the database's maintainers is still needed.

Visiting

The Tatsumi Family Residence Third Rice Storehouse stands on the south side of the estate, where, according to the official description, the earthen wall rises on a high stone base. At most, expect to see some of its roof above the wall. The cut-stone foundation and north eave face the yard and are out of sight.

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