Northern Culture Museum Inner Storehouse

A Storehouse Joined to the House

The Northern Culture Museum Inner Storehouse (北方文化博物館内土蔵, Uchidozō) in Somi, Konan Ward, Niigata City, is a two-storey timber storehouse of 1887, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 28 April 2000.

The Northern Culture Museum Inner Storehouse stands on the west side of the estate and is connected by corridors to the main house and great hall in front of it. It covers 140 square metres and runs north to south, with a gabled (Kirizuma-zukuri) pantile roof (Sangawara-buki) and its entrance on the gable end (Tsumairi).

Built in the same year as the main house, it was planned as part of the house itself.

A Storehouse on a Landlord's Scale

The Northern Culture Museum Inner Storehouse was registered as a building that would be difficult to reproduce. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it a storehouse of a grandeur fitting a great landowner's house.

It is so long that the interior is divided by partition walls. The outer walls are finished in white Shikkui plaster, and hinged double doors open on the upper floor.

Many storehouses stand apart; this one is tied to the living quarters by corridors, so the family could reach it without going outside.

White Walls and Upper Doors

From outside, note the long white walls of the Northern Culture Museum Inner Storehouse and the position of the hinged doors on the upper floor rather than at ground level, a clue to how the building was used.

With a gable-end entrance, the front of the storehouse is its narrow side. The contrast between the white plaster and the dark timber of the main house and great hall is part of the view.

Visiting the Inner Storehouse

The Northern Culture Museum Inner Storehouse is on the west side of the museum grounds, behind the main house and great hall. Nothing is published about interior access, so look at its exterior and at how it connects to the two main buildings.

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