Former Inoue Family Residence Inner Storehouse

What Is the Former Inoue Family Residence Inner Storehouse?

The Former Inoue Family Residence Inner Storehouse (旧井上家住宅内蔵, Kyū-Inoue-ke Jūtaku Uchigura) is a late Edo-period earthen storehouse on a village headman's estate in Kusaka, Higashiosaka City, Osaka Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 15 August 2024.

It stands northwest of the main house, facing east, and was used to keep household goods such as Buddhist altar fittings. With a building area of 16 square meters, the Former Inoue Family Residence Inner Storehouse is the smallest of the twelve registered structures on the estate. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the late Edo period, between 1830 and 1868.

Why a Small Household Storehouse Was Registered

The Former Inoue Family Residence Inner Storehouse is registration number 27-0918, entered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency's description notes that, small as it is, it shapes the view along the west side of the estate.

Its position right behind the main house suits what it held: objects such as altar fittings, taken out for household rites and put away again. The Former Inoue Family Residence Inner Storehouse is the southern end of the line of storehouses on the west edge of the site, followed to the north by the Middle Storehouse and the North Storehouse.

How the Inner Storehouse Is Built

The Former Inoue Family Residence Inner Storehouse is a two-storey building with a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof and its entrance on the long side. The roof is an Okiyane, a separate tiled roof set on top of the sealed earthen body, a method said to protect the store below even if the roof itself burns.

The walls are finished in white Shikkui plaster, and a thickened plaster band called a Hachimaki runs around the top of the walls under the eaves.

Each floor is a single room with a board floor, and the stair is on the south side. In the roof, short posts set on the gable beams carry the ridge and purlins. It is a plain building, but it has the essential features of a Japanese earthen storehouse.

Visiting the Former Inoue Family Residence Inner Storehouse

The Former Inoue Family Residence, including the Former Inoue Family Residence Inner Storehouse, is not open to the public, and the grounds cannot be entered. The storehouse stands behind the main house and is hard to see from the public road.

Directions to the estate and the buildings visible from outside are covered on the Former Inoue Family Residence page.