Ninomiya Family Residence No. 1 Rice Storehouse

A Rice Store 17 and a Half Bays Long

The Ninomiya Family Residence No. 1 Rice Storehouse (二宮家住宅一号米蔵, Ninomiya-ke Jūtaku Ichigō Komegura) is a single-storey timber rice store built in 1875 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 267 square metres, second only to the Main House among the estate's registered buildings.

It stands across the road to the north of the residence, in the middle of a separate lot (1106-1), with its ridge running north to south. It measures 17 and a half bays by 4 and a half, with a separately built gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of pantiles and its entrance on the long side (Hirairi). A Tsuchibisashi eave runs the full length of the east side.

The Ninomiyas were village headmen under the Shibata domain who became one of Niigata's great landowning families, and this store presumably held rent rice from tenant farmers. In 1902 the No. 2 Rice Storehouse was built to its north-east, giving the estate a pair.

Why It Was Registered

The Ninomiya Family Residence No. 1 Rice Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs points to its size, fitting for the rice store of a great farming family.

Seventeen and a half bays comes to roughly 32 metres. With an eave along the whole east side, the store has an unbroken covered strip for loading and unloading bales; the length of the building is a measure of how much rice passed through it.

The walls leave the timber posts exposed, with boards held by notched battens below and white Shikkui plaster above. It is a practical finish, unlike the thick plastered walls of the family's storehouses. The year 1875 is also the year the Main House burned, so this store dates from the moment the estate began to rebuild.

What to Look For

Start with the length. Walk the east side and the covered strip under the eave runs on without a break. The exposed posts divide the white plaster into regular panels, and the rhythm makes the building look longer still.

Look up under the eaves to see where the separately built roof meets the body of the store, a common arrangement on Japanese storehouses.

Visiting

The No. 1 Rice Storehouse is privately owned and its interior is not open. It stands across the road to the north of the residence, and the family does not say whether it is on the route of the garden opening. Do not enter the lot, and follow the guidance given during the opening.

The long east eave reads best from a point to the east, looking along the building at an angle. Follow the on-site guidance on photography.