Former Inoue Family Residence North Storehouse

What Is the Former Inoue Family Residence North Storehouse?

The Former Inoue Family Residence North Storehouse (旧井上家住宅北蔵, Kyū-Inoue-ke Jūtaku Kitagura) 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 toward the north end of the estate's west side, on a retaining wall of cut stone, and served as the store for tools and equipment. At 59 square meters, the Former Inoue Family Residence North Storehouse is the largest storehouse on the estate. It dates from the late Edo period, between 1830 and 1868, and was altered in 1913.

The Largest Storehouse on the Estate

The Former Inoue Family Residence North Storehouse is registration number 27-0920, entered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs points to its size, the largest of the estate's storehouses, and to the way it defines the outer edge of the site.

As its name suggests, the Former Inoue Family Residence North Storehouse is near the northwest corner. The Rear Rice Storehouse stands beside it to the east, and the North Barn continues the line beyond that, closing the north side of the estate. Raised on its stone wall, this large storehouse is one of the most prominent buildings when the property is seen from the lower ground.

How the North Storehouse Is Built

The Former Inoue Family Residence North Storehouse has two storeys, a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof and its entrance on the long side, toward the east end of the south face, opening onto the inside of the estate. The tiled roof is an Okiyane, carried as a separate layer above the earthen body.

The walls are plastered in Shikkui, with Tateita-bari vertical boarding around the base. The retaining wall beneath is built of dressed, squared stone.

Each floor is one open room with board flooring, and the stair is on the west side. The roof frame is a Wagoya, the Japanese system of posts standing on beams to carry the purlins. Two large stacked rooms given over to tools hint at how much equipment the household kept.

Visiting the Former Inoue Family Residence North Storehouse

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

Since the Former Inoue Family Residence North Storehouse stands on the stone wall that forms the estate boundary, its white walls are seen together with the cut-stone masonry from the northwest side of the property. Directions are on the Former Inoue Family Residence page.