Former Takada Agricultural Warehouse North Storehouse

The Largest of the Takada Rice Stores

The Former Takada Agricultural Warehouse North Storehouse (旧高田農業倉庫北蔵) is a clay-walled rice warehouse of 1937 in Shinmachi, Bungotakada City, Oita Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on April 28, 2010 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Of the three registered storehouses of the former Takada agricultural warehouse (Kyū-Takada Nōgyō Sōko), now the Showa Roman-gura complex, it has the largest floor area.

The Agency records a single-storey clay-walled storehouse with a tile roof and a building area of 640 square metres; registration number 44-0176.

A Long Store for Kunisaki Rice

The Former Takada Agricultural Warehouse North Storehouse was built to hold rice from the Kunisaki Peninsula, on a site beside the railway station of the day (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It faces south and is long and narrow, 46 metres along the ridge (Ketayuki) by 11 metres deep (Harima).

A lean-to roof (Geya) 3.6 metres deep runs the whole length of the south wall, giving the front a deep strip of shelter. On the gable wall, the name Takada Nōgyō Sōko (Takada Agricultural Warehouse) is modelled in plaster with a trowel (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Was Registered

The Agency values it as a large rice warehouse that recalls the busier days of the town, and registered it as a structure contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Former Takada Agricultural Warehouse North Storehouse became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on April 28, 2010, together with the East Storehouse and the North Small Storehouse.

What to Look For

At the Former Takada Agricultural Warehouse North Storehouse, start by walking round to a gable end to find the trowelled lettering, then stand under the south lean-to and look along its 46 metres of eaves.

According to plans the city filed with the Cabinet Office, the North Storehouse was fitted out inside as the Showa no Yume-machi Sanchome-kan, a recreation of mid-Showa houses and shops, due to open on April 29, 2007. The shell is a prewar rice store; the contents belong to the decades after the war.

Visiting

The Sanchome-kan inside the Former Takada Agricultural Warehouse North Storehouse has a paid house zone (440 yen for adults, 300 yen for school pupils) and a free mock-up classroom and souvenir corner; children of primary-school age or younger must be accompanied by a guardian (Bungotakada City). No official guidance on photography was found.