Okuno Family Residence West Storehouse

A late-Edo storehouse on the street

Okuno Family Residence West Storehouse (奥野家住宅西蔵, Okuno-ke Jūtaku Nishigura) is a late-Edo storehouse of between 1751 and 1829 in Nakasakurazuka, Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on July 8, 2008, under number 27-0494.

It stands on the western edge of the plot, right on the street: a two-storey Dozo-zukuri building with a building area of 41 square meters. According to the city it is attached to the north end of the gate row house, and the two together form the street front of the homestead.

One building that looks like two

The Okuno Family Residence West Storehouse measures 7.5 meters by 4.5 meters. Its gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of pantiles is an okiyane, a separate roof set over the clay body, with a small canopy on the east side.

What catches the eye is the step in the roof: the northern half sits higher. The city explains why. A central wall splits the interior into north and south rooms, and in the north room a board wall with ventilation gaps rises above the clay wall. The roof lifts by that much, so a single storehouse reads from outside as two buildings of different heights side by side.

The base is laid stone, carefully coursed according to the agency. The walls are sheathed in vertical boards, with small windows at key points under little hoods held up on brackets.

Why it was registered

The Okuno Family Residence West Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape of the country. The city credits the gate row house, storehouses and board fences along the street with keeping a village feel in an area long since swallowed by the city, and the west storehouse is part of that run.

The stepped roof is also a case of function producing character: a practical ventilation detail that became the building's signature.

Earthquake damage, repair and reuse

In the Osaka earthquake of June 2018, the Okuno Family Residence West Storehouse suffered a broken beam on its upper floor, according to the owner as quoted by a local news site. Demolition was considered, but the building was repaired, and on June 6, 2023 it reopened as the café Sakura no Shōbei Plus, a place for audiences at events in the neighbouring rice storehouse to relax.

That report also calls the building the "west storehouse (rice storehouse)". Read against the city's description, the café appears to occupy the west storehouse next to the gate row house. The official site gives café days and hours but does not say which storehouse it uses.

Visiting

The exterior of the Okuno Family Residence West Storehouse can be seen from the street along the west side of the plot. The raised northern half of the roof shows best if you walk a little way north and look back at an angle. To go inside, visit on a café day: as of September 2026, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Check the official site for current details. Directions are on the Okuno Family Residence (Toyonaka) page.