Former Inoue Family Residence East Barn

What Is the Former Inoue Family Residence East Barn?

The Former Inoue Family Residence East Barn (旧井上家住宅東納屋, Kyū-Inoue-ke Jūtaku Higashinaya) is a late Edo-period barn on a village headman's estate in Kusaka, Higashiosaka City, Osaka Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 15 August 2024.

The Former Inoue Family Residence East Barn stands on the east edge of the estate, along the street. The East Gate and Barn continues from its south end, followed by the Front Rice Storehouse. It has a building area of 60 square meters, dates from the late Edo period, between 1830 and 1868, and was altered in 1995.

Part of the Street Frontage

The Former Inoue Family Residence East Barn is registration number 27-0923, entered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as one section of the long estate frontage, running north from the East Gate and Barn.

Along the eastern street, the Former Inoue Family Residence East Barn, the East Gate and Barn and the Front Rice Storehouse follow one another without a break, presenting the street with what is almost a single wall. The barn is the northern end of that line.

Four Earth-Floored Rooms in a Row

The Former Inoue Family Residence East Barn has two storeys and a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof in Sangawara-buki tile, with its entrances on the long side. The walls are plastered in Shikkui, and a lean-to Geya runs along the west face, the side facing into the estate.

The ground floor is divided north to south into four rooms, each with an earthen Doma floor and its own doorway half a bay wide in the west wall. None of the rooms opens onto the street; every door faces the estate. The upper floor is a single board-floored room used for storage.

Closed toward the street and open toward the yard through four doors, the barn shows how the buildings along the east edge also served the estate as its outer wall.

Visiting the Former Inoue Family Residence East Barn

The Former Inoue Family Residence, including the Former Inoue Family Residence East Barn, is not open to the public, and the grounds cannot be entered.

Because the Former Inoue Family Residence East Barn lines the eastern street, it is one of the easier buildings to see from outside. The doors are on the inner west side, so what faces the street is the plain plastered back wall. Walking south along the street takes you past the East Gate and Barn and on to the Front Rice Storehouse. Directions are on the Former Inoue Family Residence page.