Ninomiya Family Residence Storehouse No. 4

A 1908 Storehouse with a Twin Next Door

The Ninomiya Family Residence Storehouse No. 4 (二宮家住宅四号土蔵, Ninomiya-ke Jūtaku Yongō Dozō) is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri storehouse built in 1908 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 61 square metres.

Of the four storehouses lined up west of the Main House, this is the third from the north, just south of Storehouse No. 3. Its ridge runs east to west and it measures 7 and a half bays by 2 and a half, with a separately built gabled roof of pantiles and a door on the long south side toward the east (Hirairi).

Storehouse No. 5, its southern neighbour, went up in the same year, 1908. The family had built No. 3 in 1901. Read in order, the dates show the Ninomiyas adding storehouse after storehouse toward the end of the Meiji era.

Why It Was Registered

The Ninomiya Family Residence Storehouse No. 4 was registered as a model of form. Its lower walls are Namako-kabe, tiles with raised plaster joints, and the upper walls are smooth white Shikkui. Fire and damp protection are turned into a clean, ordered design.

The east gable is its face. One window on the ground floor and two above give the white wall a balanced, almost facial arrangement. The number and placement of windows differ from storehouse to storehouse, which gives the row a varied east front.

A roof pitched both ways spans the gap between this storehouse and No. 5. The same kind of roof joins Nos. 2 and 3, so the four storehouses work as two pairs, each with a sheltered passage between them. The row was planned as a group, not as four separate buildings.

What to Look For

Find a spot where you can see all four east gables at once and compare the windows. Storehouse No. 4 has one below and two above.

Under the shared roof between Nos. 4 and 5, the two doors face each other across a covered passage. Look up to see the two slopes meet in the middle. The namako-kabe lattice shows its relief best in low morning light.

Visiting

The interior of the Ninomiya Family Residence Storehouse No. 4 is not open. It is third from the north in the row of four storehouses, and its exterior can be seen during the opening.

To compare the east-gable windows, view the row from the east side. Follow the on-site guidance on photography.