Okuno Family Residence Clothing Storehouse

A small storehouse behind the main house

Okuno Family Residence Clothing Storehouse (奥野家住宅衣装蔵, Okuno-ke Jūtaku Ishōgura) is a late-Edo storehouse of about 1830 to 1868 in Kasugamotomachi, Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on May 2, 2017, under number 27-0669.

It stands north of the main house, a two-storey Dozo-zukuri storehouse with clay walls, 2 bays square and 18 square meters in area, the smallest of the three storehouses on the property. A clothing storehouse of this kind generally held a household's textiles as wealth: formal kimono, wedding furnishings, bedding and out-of-season garments.

Heavy round timbers inside

The Okuno Family Residence Clothing Storehouse has a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof with its entrance on the long side, Hirairi style, and uses the okiyane method: a separate roof frame set over the plastered clay body, leaving a ventilating air gap between the two. At the front a lean-to eave shelters a narrow veranda.

Inside is a single room lined with boards. What caught the agency's eye was the weight of the timber. The second-floor beams, the ridge beam and the purlins are all large-diameter round logs, far heavier than a 2 by 2 bay plan strictly needs.

Outside, the walls are finished in Shikkui plaster over a skirt of boards. On each gable end the plaster is built out into a double hachimaki, two thick horizontal bands beneath the eaves.

Why it was registered

The Okuno Family Residence Clothing Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape of the country, and the agency specifically notes its part in the look of the street.

Compare it with its two neighbours and the care lavished on it stands out. The tool storehouse has a single plaster band on its gables and the rice storehouse small drip hoods on its gable walls, while the clothing storehouse gets the double band. The most elaborate finish went on the smallest building, most likely because what it held was worth the most.

What to look for

Look at the gable ends of the Okuno Family Residence Clothing Storehouse. The doubled hachimaki cuts two horizontal shadow lines across the white wall, and they read most clearly when the sun strikes at a low angle in the morning or afternoon.

The front veranda is worth a glance too. Its scale suggests a place to set down bundles, sit, and unfold garments before carrying them in or out.

Visiting

The Okuno Family Residence Clothing Storehouse stands within a private residence and its interior is closed. As the agency's reference to the streetscape implies, the exterior can be seen from the road. Please stay off the property and keep your visit brief. Directions are on the Okuno Family Residence (Hirakata) page.