Ninomiya Family Residence Storehouse No. 3

A Storehouse Crowned with the Family Crest

The Ninomiya Family Residence Storehouse No. 3 (二宮家住宅三号土蔵, Ninomiya-ke Jūtaku Sangō Dozō) is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri storehouse built in 1901 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 65 square metres.

Of the four storehouses lined up west of the Main House with their ridges running east to west, it is second from the north, just south of Storehouse No. 2. It measures 8 bays by 2 and a half, with a separately built gabled roof of pantiles; its door is toward the east end of the long north side (Hirairi), facing the door of No. 2.

Why It Was Registered

The Ninomiya Family Residence Storehouse No. 3 was registered as a model of form. Like No. 2, it has Namako-kabe on its lower walls and white Shikkui plaster above.

Its east gable is what sets it apart. There is no window on the ground floor, a pair of windows upstairs, and at the end of the ridge beam the family crest modelled in plaster. Placed high on a largely blank white wall, the crest turns the gable into a statement of the family's standing.

A shared roof pitched both ways links it to No. 2, so the two facing doors can be reached in the dry. Built in 1901, No. 3 came before Nos. 4 and 5 of 1908, midway through the growth of the row.

What to Look For

Look up at the east gable for the crest at the end of the ridge beam. Raised in plaster, it stands out sharply in morning light from the east.

Compare the east gables along the row: No. 3 has no ground-floor window and a pair above, No. 4 one below and two above, No. 5 one above the other. Seen from the east, each storehouse has its own face.

Visiting

The interior of the Ninomiya Family Residence Storehouse No. 3 is not open. It is second from the north in the row of four storehouses, and its exterior can be seen during the garden opening; how close you can get depends on the route set that year.

The crest is easiest to find from a little way back on the east side. Follow the on-site guidance on photography.