Northern Culture Museum Storehouse Gate

The Long Wall of the East Front

The Northern Culture Museum Storehouse Gate (北方文化博物館土蔵門, Dozōmon) in Somi, Konan Ward, Niigata City, is a Dozo-zukuri storehouse gate building of 1887, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 28 April 2000.

The Northern Culture Museum Storehouse Gate forms the east front of the Ito family estate: a full two-storey storehouse with a building area of 145 square metres and a length of about 24 metres. Its north gable end is hipped (Yosemune-zukuri), while its south end runs on, through the gateway, into the Gate Storehouse.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs places it in the years when the Itos were consolidating their position as great landowners, five years after the fifth head began work on the present house in 1882.

A Local Landmark

The Northern Culture Museum Storehouse Gate was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The agency notes that, with its great length, it remains a symbol of the local scene.

The roof is laid in Sangawara-buki pantiles. From the street, white storehouse walls stretch north and south of the gate, with the big roof of the main house rising behind. This wall was the face the landlord's house turned to the village.

The agency registers the Northern Culture Museum Storehouse Gate and the Gate Storehouse separately. The museum's own building guide treats them as a single gate storehouse dating from about 1885 and about 24 metres long. This article follows the national database.

Hipped End, Gateway End

Walk the length of the Northern Culture Museum Storehouse Gate along the street. At the north end the gable is hipped, softening the corner. Heading south, you reach the gateway, and beyond it the Gate Storehouse.

The tall two-storey walls and the 24-metre run give the estate's edge real mass. Step back and take in the gate and the storehouses on either side in one view to understand how the east front is composed.

Visiting the Storehouse Gate

The Northern Culture Museum Storehouse Gate stands on the east front of the Northern Culture Museum, so its exterior can be seen from the street. The ticket office is in the neighbouring Gate Storehouse, and visitors walk along this long wall to reach it.

The museum publishes nothing about access to the interior. Ask at reception before photographing inside the grounds. Opening days, fees and directions are covered on the page for the museum as a whole.