Menzan Atsuya Residence Storehouse No. 2

Mezan Atsushi Residence, Storehouse 2

Follow the lanes into Saho, a quiet settlement in the northern hills of Ibaraki City, and the Mezan Atsushi Residence stands out as the anchor of the village. In 2000 eight elements of the estate were listed as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties.

Just east of the larger corner storehouse, and joined to it, stands the second of the pair. Also raised in 1912 and facing the road along the north side of the grounds, it is the smaller building, about 16 square meters, with a shorter body and a slightly lower ridge and eaves.

Why It Is Registered

Small as it is, the storehouse was not built plainly. A cornice molding runs beneath the eaves, the kind of detailing usually reserved for larger stores, and the construction throughout is done in earnest. Set beside its taller neighbor, it reads as the quieter half of a deliberate pair rather than an afterthought.

What to Look For

The two storehouses together compose the western half of the compound's north face, the stretch a visitor sees first on approaching along the road. Storehouse 2 is registered for its share in that historic landscape, holding the line of the grounds where the larger store leaves off.

The Mezan Atsushi Residence is a private home, and its interior is not open to visitors. The village lanes, however, pass close by the walls, storehouses and stone base that face the public road, so the streetscape can be taken in from outside without entering the grounds. For displays on the wider history of the area, the Ibaraki City Cultural Property Museum in the city center is open to the public.