Fujimoto Family Residence North Rice Storehouse

The Fujimoto Family Residence North Rice Storehouse

The Fujimoto Family Residence North Rice Storehouse (藤本家住宅北米蔵, Fujimoto-ke Jūtaku Kitakomegura) is a single-storey early Meiji-period earthen storehouse (Dozo-zukuri) in Fujiidera City, Osaka Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 18, 2006. It stands east of the main house's earthen floor, built against the main house's east wall, with its ridge running east to west.

It measures 3 and a half by 5 and a half Ken bays and covers 65 square metres under a gabled (Kirizuma-zukuri) roof of round-and-flat tiles (Hongawarabuki); the Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it a comparatively large storehouse. The door is toward the north end of the west wall, close to the accounts corner on the main house's earthen floor. Like the main house, it is plastered (Shikkui) right up into the eaves. Today it serves as a reception room, among other uses.

Why It Was Registered

The Fujimoto Family Residence North Rice Storehouse was listed for its contribution to the historic landscape. The estate has two rice storehouses: the south one stands on its own at the southeast corner, while this one is joined to the main house.

The door placement is the telling detail. It opens onto the main house's earthen floor, right beside the corner where the household kept its accounts. Whoever sat at that desk could step straight into the rice store, and the plan still shows how closely storage and household business were tied together.

What to Look For

The plan runs deeper than it is long: 3 and a half bays along the ridge, 5 and a half across it. At 65 square metres, the Fujimoto Family Residence North Rice Storehouse is the second-largest of the ten registered buildings after the main house.

The eaves are sealed in plaster, with no rafter ends showing, the usual way of protecting an earthen storehouse. The main house is finished the same way, so from the east side the two read almost as one building.

A rice store that now receives guests is also a fair illustration of how Japan's registration system works: it is designed for buildings that stay in use.

Visiting the Fujimoto Family Residence North Rice Storehouse

The Fujimoto Family Residence North Rice Storehouse is part of a private home and is not open to the public. Because it stands on the east side of the main house, the main house blocks it from the west-side lane, and little of it can be seen from the street.

If you walk past the estate, keep to the public road. Directions from the station are on the Fujimoto Family Residence page.