Hara Family Residence Storehouse

An Earthen Storehouse on the Northern Edge

Hara Family Residence Storehouse (原家住宅土蔵, Hara-ke Jūtaku Dozō) is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri storehouse, built around 1906 in Nihongi, Konan Ward, Niigata City, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 1 August 2016. It has a tiled gabled roof and a building area of 33 square metres.

It stands on the northern side of the grounds, facing south, side by side with the back storehouse to its west, with a single-storey shed between the two. A covered corridor links it to the main house and the annex, so goods could be moved in and out without going outdoors.

How It Is Built

The lower walls are brick; above them the walls are finished in white Shikkui plaster. A thick band of plaster, the hachimaki, runs around the top of the walls, and the roof is of the oki-yane type: a separate timber roof set on top of the sealed earthen body of the storehouse.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out the doorway, framed in steel made in Scotland. Traditional storehouse construction combined with brick and imported steel is what sets the Hara Family Residence Storehouse apart.

The back storehouse next door has almost identical walls and door framing, and together the pair form a continuous run of storehouses along the northern side of the compound.

What to Look For

Focus on the south-facing entrance and how the Scottish steel is fitted into the white plaster wall around it.

Then look down at the brick. The part of the wall closest to the ground, which takes the most damp and wear, is brick, and the plaster starts above it; the change in colour marks that division of labour.

Seen alongside its neighbour, the Hara Family Residence Storehouse is the slightly smaller of the two, at 33 square metres against the 39 square metres of the back storehouse.

Viewing the Storehouse

The storehouse is closed to the public, and its interior cannot be visited.

It stands on the northern side of the grounds, behind the main house, with its front facing into the compound. We have not been able to confirm how much of it can be seen from the public road, and the grounds cannot be entered.