Ninomiya Family Residence Miscellaneous Storehouse

A Plain Board-Clad Store at the Back

The Ninomiya Family Residence Miscellaneous Storehouse (二宮家住宅雑蔵, Ninomiya-ke Jūtaku Zatsugura) is a single-storey storehouse built in 1875 on the Ninomiya estate in Hasuno, Seirō Town, Niigata Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2006. It has a tiled roof and a building area of 22 square metres, the smallest of the estate's storehouses.

It stands west of Storehouse No. 2, near the western edge of the grounds, with its ridge running north to south. It measures 3 and a half bays by 2, with a separately built gabled roof of pantiles and its entrance on the long east side (Hirairi) under a Tsuchibisashi eave.

A zatsugura held everyday tools and odds and ends. Unlike the document store or the rice stores, it served the small needs of daily life.

Why It Was Registered

The Ninomiya Family Residence Miscellaneous Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as part of what gives the back garden its character.

Vertical boards wrap the walls to well above head height, and the only window is a small one in the south gable. Where the main storehouses present white plaster and namako-kabe, this one is plain timber, and it gives the back of the estate a quiet, working feel.

It dates from 1875, the year the Main House burned, like Storehouse No. 1 and the No. 1 Rice Storehouse. It is one of the buildings that show the estate as it was when rebuilding began.

What to Look For

Notice how much of the wall is board. With the cladding carried so high, only a strip of plaster shows, and from a distance the store reads as a timber building.

Find the single small window in the south gable, then the door under the east eave: together they sum up a store built purely for use.

Visiting

The interior of the Ninomiya Family Residence Miscellaneous Storehouse is not open. It stands near the western edge of the grounds in the back garden, and how close the opening-season route comes varies from year to year.

The small south window is easiest to see from the south side of the store. Follow the on-site guidance on photography.