A Store Lifted onto Posts
The Ryukyu Mura Former Shimabukuro Family Residence Elevated Granary is a Meiji-period raised storehouse in Yamada, Onna Village, Kunigami District, Okinawa Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 15 May 2007.
It held grain and seed. The granary stood on the same plot as the Shimabukuro main house, was built around 1887, and came south from Haneji in Nago City to Onna Village in 1982.
Raising a store off the ground is common to Okinawa and the Amami islands, keeping damp and rats away from the harvest. Not every household could afford one. Ryukyu Mura notes that owning a granary marked a family as a figure of standing in its district.
Reading the Structure in Numbers
The Agency for Cultural Affairs records the dimensions of the Ryukyu Mura Former Shimabukuro Family Residence Elevated Granary in detail. Four round posts stand within a rectangle 2.8 metres by 2.1 metres, carrying a floor 2.3 metres above the ground under a hipped roof of thatch. The building area is 18 square metres, the smallest of the seven listed buildings in the park and the only one with a thatched roof.
The interesting figures are the floor's. Where the posts sit 2.8 metres by 2.1 metres apart, the floor above measures 4.3 metres by 3.8 metres. It overhangs the posts on every side, and the overhanging portion is pitched at somewhere between 10 and 20 degrees. The Agency describes this arrangement as close to the granaries of the Amami islands rather than to southern Okinawan practice.
The overhang and its slope are not decoration. A rat climbing a post meets a floor board that projects outward and tilts away, and can go no further. Ryukyu Mura explains the joint between post and floor as a right angle worked deliberately as a rat guard. The pitched walls under the hipped roof serve a parallel purpose, keeping direct sun out while letting air move through the store.
The registration criterion was that the structure serves as a model of design: function legible in the form itself.
Look at It from Underneath
Stand beneath the Ryukyu Mura Former Shimabukuro Family Residence Elevated Granary and look up. Only from directly below can you see where the four round posts meet the floor and where the boards begin to project. The posts are worked round and smooth, quite unlike the squared posts of the house beside it.
The thatch reads differently too, in colour and texture, among the red tiles of the rest of the park. Set the granary and the Shimabukuro main house side by side and it becomes clear that one household used two entirely separate ways of building. A structure for people and a structure for rice were reasoned out along different lines.
Visiting the Granary
The Ryukyu Mura Former Shimabukuro Family Residence Elevated Granary stands in the open and can be circled on foot. Since the raised structure is the whole point, walk to the sides and back as well as the front and confirm that the floor projects on all four sides. Thatch tends to fall into shadow against a bright sky, so avoid the middle of the day if you want detail in the roof. Photography is allowed.
The Shimabukuro main house is a few steps away and belongs with it. Directions, opening hours and admission for the park are set out on the Ryukyu Mura page.
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Q&A
- What was the Ryukyu Mura Former Shimabukuro Family Residence Elevated Granary used for?
- Storing grain and seed. Lifting the floor 2.3 metres off the ground kept damp and rats away from what was stored inside.
- What are the dimensions of the Ryukyu Mura Former Shimabukuro Family Residence Elevated Granary?
- Four round posts stand 2.8 metres by 2.1 metres apart and carry a floor 2.3 metres up. The floor itself measures 4.3 metres by 3.8 metres, and the building area is 18 square metres.
- Why is the Ryukyu Mura Former Shimabukuro Family Residence Elevated Granary compared to Amami granaries?
- Because the floor projects beyond the posts and the projecting part is pitched at roughly 10 to 20 degrees. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records this form as close to that of granaries in the Amami islands.
- When was the Ryukyu Mura Former Shimabukuro Family Residence Elevated Granary built and moved?
- Around 1887, with relocation to Ryukyu Mura in 1982. It originally stood on the same plot as the Shimabukuro main house.
- Where in the park is the Ryukyu Mura Former Shimabukuro Family Residence Elevated Granary?
- Immediately beside the Shimabukuro main house. It stands in the open, so you can walk right around it and study the structure. Photography is permitted.
Basic Information
| Name | Ryukyu Mura Former Shimabukuro Family Residence Elevated Granary (琉球村旧島袋家住宅高倉) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1130 Yamada, Onna Village, Kunigami District, Okinawa Prefecture (inside Ryukyu Mura) |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registration no. 47-0026 |
| Year Designated | Registered 15 May 2007, gazetted 29 May 2007 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber frame, thatched roof, building area 18 sq m (posts 2.8 m by 2.1 m, floor 2.3 m above ground) |
| Owner | Takoyama Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Viewable with paid admission to Ryukyu Mura (9:30 to 17:00, last admission 16:00, open daily) |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005957
- Japan Cultural Properties Information Site: Former Shimabukuro Family Residence Elevated Granary
- https://onna.hiddenheritage.jp/5
- Ryukyu Mura: Former Shimabukuro House Granary
- https://www.ryukyumura.co.jp/facilities/takakura/
- Ryukyu Mura facility information
- https://www.ryukyumura.co.jp/information/
Last verified: 2026.09.13
