Fujino Family Residence Rice Storehouse and Tool Storehouse

About the Fujino Family Residence Rice Storehouse and Tool Storehouse

The Fujino Family Residence Rice Storehouse and Tool Storehouse (藤野家住宅米蔵及び道具蔵, Fujino-ke Jūtaku Komegura oyobi Dōgugura) is a 1-story Dozo-zukuri storehouse built in the mid-Meiji period (1883 to 1897) in Fujiidera 2-chome, Fujiidera City, Osaka Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2012.

The Fujino Family Residence Rice Storehouse and Tool Storehouse stands in the southeast corner of the plot, joined to the south end of the barn. It measures 8.5 m by 4.9 m, with a building area of 51 square meters. The gable roof is of the Okiyane type, covered in Sangawara-buki pantiles, and a Tsuchibisashi canopy runs along the west face.

As the name says, one building holds several kinds of storage. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, a strip half a bay wide along the east side is for long items, and the rest is split into a rice store in the northern half and a tool store in the southern half.

Why the Fujino Rice Storehouse and Tool Storehouse was registered

The Fujino Family Residence Rice Storehouse and Tool Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape of the country. The agency notes that it shares the exterior of the row house and barn, and says it tightens up the look of the whole estate.

That has a lot to do with where it stands. Down the east side of the estate run the east gate and row house and then the barn, and the line ends with this storehouse. From here the storage shed and birdhouse run west along the southern edge. The storehouse holds the corner where the eastern row meets the southern one, tying the two sides together.

Its depth of 4.9 m matches the row house and barn to the north. With the same depth and the same finish, the three buildings read as one continuous wall along the east side.

What to look for at the Fujino Rice and Tool Storehouse

The roof of the Fujino Family Residence Rice Storehouse and Tool Storehouse is an okiyane. A separate timber roof is set on top of the storehouse's own roof of packed clay and plaster, and the tiles go on that. The sealed clay layer resists fire, and the upper roof takes the rain. It is a way of protecting the household's rice and tools, the means of its livelihood.

The interior is carefully divided. The 8.5 m length is split north and south between rice and tools, and a strip half a bay wide runs along the east side for long items. Half a bay is about 0.9 m, a good depth for laying down poles, ladders and other long things. Space inside the storehouse was allotted to fit the shape of what it held.

The canopy on the west face, like the barn's, faces into the estate. That was most likely the side where goods were carried in and out.

Visiting the Fujino Family Residence Rice Storehouse and Tool Storehouse

The Fujino Family Residence is a private home and the storehouse is not open. According to Osaka Bunkazai Navi, run by the Osaka Association of Architects and Building Engineers and partner groups, the outbuildings east of the main house face a road, so the east wall of the Fujino Family Residence Rice Storehouse and Tool Storehouse is probably visible from outside.

Please keep photographs to the exterior from the road. Directions to the estate are on the Fujino Family Residence (Fujiidera) page.