Mizote Family Residence No. 3 Storehouse

The Old Rice Store off the Kitchen Floor

Mizote Family Residence No. 3 Storehouse (溝手家住宅三号蔵, Mizote-ke Jūtaku Sangō-gura) is an earthen-walled storehouse dating back to the mid-Edo period on a wealthy farming family's estate in Hayashima, Okayama Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2021.

It stands northwest of the main house, ridge running north to south, a two-storey dozo-zukuri building with a tiled roof and a footprint of 81 square metres. It was originally the rice store. Its door opens off the west side of the main house's earth-floored work area, so the Mizote Family Residence No. 3 Storehouse could be reached without going outdoors.

Why It Was Registered

The storehouse was registered under number 33-0342 for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as the key element in the view of the estate from the west.

Its history is layered. The core is mid-Edo; around 1845 it was extended northward by four structural bays; in 1909 it was renovated. A rice store stretched and refitted as the household grew, the Mizote Family Residence No. 3 Storehouse carries that sequence in a single building.

What to Look For

The storehouse sits on a foundation of dressed stone. Its walls are white plaster, with namako-kabe at the corners and along the lower band. Here the joints of the namako-kabe run horizontally rather than on the diagonal, which gives the wall a banded look instead of the familiar diamond grid.

Part of the west wall is clad in horizontal boards. Those shifts in finish are clues to the building's extensions and repairs.

In the roof, trusses with upright struts alternate with pairs of sloping rafters, a varied structure for what was, in the end, a working grain store.

Visiting

The Mizote Family Residence No. 3 Storehouse belongs to a private home and its interior is closed. It stands northwest of the main house.

Because the Agency treats it as the anchor of the western view, its walls are likely the main thing seen from that side of the estate. Look from the public road only and do not enter the grounds.