Tanaka Family Residence Storehouse

The Tanaka Family Residence Storehouse

The Tanaka Family Residence Storehouse (田中家住宅土蔵, Tanaka-ke Jūtaku Dozō) is a small two-storey earthen-walled storehouse built in the early Showa period on the Tanaka compound in Takaminosato, Matsubara City, Osaka Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 3, 2006. It stands southwest of the main house, along the western edge of the plot.

It measures 2 by 1 and a half bays, just 12 square metres, and carries a separately built gabled roof of hongawara tiles. The door is on the north, and a lean-to roof one bay deep runs the length of the east side to shelter a storage area.

A Wall to the Street

The Tanaka Family Residence Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. Its walls are white plaster, with vertical boarding along the lower part of the west face only, the side that meets the road. The Agency for Cultural Affairs counts it as part of the compound's western face, together with the outer wall that continues south.

The floating roof leaves an air gap above the plastered body, a standard storehouse technique for keeping heat out and contents safe.

Closed to the Road, Open to the Yard

From the street you see white plaster and a skirt of vertical boards that keeps splashes off the base of the wall. On the far side, the lean-to opens toward the inside of the compound: a closed face to the road, an open one to the yard.

Seeing the Storehouse

The west wall of the storehouse faces the road, so its exterior can be seen from the public street. Matsubara City states that the house is still lived in and that the grounds and buildings cannot be visited.