Matsumura Family Residence Storehouse No. 3

The Storehouse Beside the Gate

The Matsumura Family Residence Storehouse No. 3 (松村家住宅土蔵三, Matsumura-ke Jūtaku Dozō San) is a late-Edo-period Dozo-zukuri storehouse in Shimaizumi 2-chome, Habikino, Osaka Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on August 3, 2006. It stands on the estate of the Matsumura family, village headmen of Minami-Shimaizumi, south of the raised rooms of the main house, joined to the west end of the nagayamon gatehouse, with its ridge running east to west.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs database dates it to the late Edo period, a range it gives as 1751 to 1829, the same as the gatehouse. It is a single-story earthen-walled storehouse with a tiled roof and a building area of 29 square meters, and the earliest of the three storehouses on the estate by the database's dating.

Part of the Headman's Front

The Matsumura Family Residence Storehouse No. 3 was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape of the country (registration number 27-0377). The Agency's description treats it as one of the elements that make up the front of a headman's estate.

Storehouses No. 1 and No. 2 close off the rear of the estate; Storehouse No. 3 stands forward on the south, meeting the road as a continuation of the gatehouse. Because the gatehouse also has a storeroom at its east end, the south front runs storeroom, gateway, attendants' rooms, Storehouse No. 3, with solid storehouse walls at both ends. Habikino City notes that this arrangement closely resembles the one at the Yoshimura Family Residence in the same district.

Inside: Nizuri Boards and Sloping Beams

The storehouse measures 4 by 3 ken (a ken is roughly 1.8 meters). Its gabled (Kirizuma-zukuri) roof is covered in lighter Sangawara-buki pantiles, unlike the heavy round-and-flat tile on the two storehouses behind the main house.

A lean-to roof (Geya) runs the full length of the north side, and the door opens under it toward the east end. The entrance faces into the estate rather than onto the road, which keeps the street side a closed wall.

What the Agency's description notes in particular about the Matsumura Family Residence Storehouse No. 3 is its interior. The inner walls are lined closely with nizuri, vertical boards or battens fixed inside a storehouse so that stored goods do not rub against and damage the earthen wall; close spacing suggests heavy loads. The roof is framed with nobori-bari, beams laid along the slope of the roof, which leaves the space open up to the rafters without a ceiling.

Seeing the Storehouse

The Matsumura Family Residence Storehouse No. 3 adjoins the west end of the gatehouse and forms part of the south front of the estate. The estate is a private home with no public opening announced as of September 2026, so neither the storehouse interior nor the grounds can be entered.

Looking at the gatehouse from the road on the south, the section continuing to the west is this storehouse. The north side, with its lean-to and door, faces inward and cannot be seen from the street. Keep any photography brief and clear of traffic. Directions are on the Matsumura Family Residence page.