Mizote Family Residence No. 1 Storehouse

A Storehouse on Fitted Stone

Mizote Family Residence No. 1 Storehouse (溝手家住宅一号蔵, Mizote-ke Jūtaku Ichigō-gura) is an earthen-walled storehouse built in 1845 on a wealthy farming family's estate in Hayashima, Okayama Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2021.

It stands north of the main house, ridge running east to west, a two-storey dozo-zukuri building with a tiled roof and a footprint of 59 square metres. Dozo-zukuri means thick clay walls finished in plaster, built to protect contents from fire. The family used this one for household goods.

Why It Was Registered

The storehouse was registered under number 33-0340 for its contribution to the historic landscape; the Agency for Cultural Affairs regards it as an important element of the view along the north side of the estate.

The Council for Cultural Affairs' advisory report identified the namako-kabe on the lower walls and corners of the Mizote storehouses as a design particular to southern Okayama, and singled out the Mizote Family Residence No. 1 Storehouse for its careful construction on a base of fitted stone.

What to Look For

Start at ground level. The storehouse rises from a tall stone base that flares outward toward the bottom, laid in kirikomi-hagi, a technique in which each stone is cut so that its faces meet the next without gaps. It is painstaking work to lavish on a storehouse foundation.

Above it, the walls are white plaster, with namako-kabe at the corners and along the lower band. A row of drip tiles projects from the middle of the wall to throw rainwater clear before it can streak the plaster below. Stone, plaster, tile and namako-kabe stack up in clean layers, and the Mizote Family Residence No. 1 Storehouse is the neatest of the family's storehouses in that respect.

Inside, two rooms sit side by side, each with its own door on the south. The roof is framed with sloping rafters laid onto a heavy beam set beneath the ridge.

Visiting

The Mizote Family Residence No. 1 Storehouse belongs to a private home and its interior is closed. It stands inside the compound, north of the main house.

Because the Agency treats it as part of the view on the north side of the estate, parts of it may be visible from outside there. Do not enter the grounds; check what can be seen from the public road only.