Ninomiya Family Residence Storehouse No. 5

The Last Storehouse in the Row

The Ninomiya Family Residence Storehouse No. 5 (二宮家住宅五号土蔵, Ninomiya-ke Jūtaku Gogō 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 73 square metres.

Of the four storehouses lined up west of the Main House with their ridges running east to west, this is the southernmost. It measures 7 and a half bays by 2 and a half, with a separately built gabled roof of pantiles and its door on the long north side toward the east (Hirairi). That door faces the door of Storehouse No. 4, built in the same year, 1908, and the two work as a pair.

Why It Was Registered

The Ninomiya Family Residence Storehouse No. 5 was registered as a model of form. The lower walls are Namako-kabe and the upper walls white Shikkui plaster, and the east gable has two windows, one above the other, each closed by hinged double shutters finished in kakego-nuri.

Kakego-nuri builds up the edges of a shutter or door in stepped layers that lock into the frame when closed, keeping out flames and smoke. Fitting every window with heavy plastered shutters shows how seriously the storehouse was protected against fire.

Its place in the row matters too. Nos. 2 and 3, and Nos. 4 and 5, face each other door to door under shared roofs. Storehouse No. 5 closes the southern end of the line.

What to Look For

On the east gable, the shuttered windows sit one above the other. The east gables differ along the row: No. 3 has no ground-floor window and a pair upstairs, No. 4 one below and two above. Compare them side by side.

With the shutters closed, the stepped edges draw thin lines of shadow on the white plaster. The namako-kabe lattice stands out best in slanting morning light.

Visiting

The interior of the Ninomiya Family Residence Storehouse No. 5 is not open. It stands at the south end of 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 stacked east windows read best seen straight on from the east. Follow the on-site guidance on photography.