What the Terada Family Residence Inner Storehouse is
The Terada Family Residence Inner Storehouse (寺田家住宅内蔵, Terada-ke Jutaku Uchigura) is a 1936 storehouse in Shinmachi, Kaizuka City, Osaka Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 25 July 2011. It measures 4.9 metres by 3.9 metres, is built in two-storey Dozo-zukuri with a gabled Hongawarabuki roof, and covers 19 square metres.
A covered passage links it to the east face of the main house. A storehouse joined to the dwelling in this way is called an uchigura, and it held what the household needed regularly. The building sits on a coursed stone footing, with small windows on its east face at ground level and on the north and south faces above.
Its appearance contrasts with the house next to it. Where the main house carries a Spanish porch, the Terada Family Residence Inner Storehouse keeps to white plaster and heavy tile. Two buildings by the same client in the same year differ this much because their jobs differ.
Why the Terada Family Residence Inner Storehouse was registered
The Terada Family Residence Inner Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape, the same criterion applied to the outer storehouse, the barn and the stone wall. The main house and the main gate were entered under a different one, as models of design.
The national database notes that this storehouse gives variety to the estate. Set beside a house that borrows from Western design, its white plastered mass introduces a contrast of texture. What is being valued is a relationship between neighbouring buildings rather than a single object.
Its registration number is 27-0544. Nineteen square metres is small, yet when the seven structures were registered together the list reached past the principal buildings to the storehouses, the barn and the wall. That the working parts of the estate survive at all is what made a single combined registration possible.
What to look at
Note where the windows are. One at ground level on the east face, two above on the north and south. Storehouses resist openings, and each one is placed for a reason. The window pattern of the Terada Family Residence Inner Storehouse records which faces looked outward and which faced the house.
The coursed stone footing is worth a look as well. Stones laid with continuous horizontal joints carry the weight of thick earthen walls and keep the floor clear of ground damp. For a storehouse the footing largely decides how long the building lasts.
The junction with the main house matters too. Because a covered passage connects them, the Terada Family Residence Inner Storehouse was never an isolated box but an extension of the living quarters, reachable without stepping into the rain.
Seeing the Terada Family Residence Inner Storehouse
The Terada Family Residence Inner Storehouse is privately owned and closed to visitors. Standing east of the main house, deep inside the plot, it is almost invisible from the street.
What can be made out from outside is part of its tiled roof beyond the ridge of the main house. From the northern stretch of the pavement on Prefectural Route 204 the roofline can just be read. The walls and the small windows cannot be seen from any public position.
Photography is limited to the public road. Directions and the conditions for visiting the estate as a whole are set out on the page for the Terada Family Residence in Kaizuka.
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Q&A
- What kind of building is the Terada Family Residence Inner Storehouse?
- A two-storey earthen-walled storehouse of 1936, 4.9 metres by 3.9 metres, with a gabled tile roof and a floor area of 19 square metres.
- How does the Terada Family Residence Inner Storehouse differ from the outer one?
- This one is joined to the east face of the main house by a covered passage. The outer storehouse stands free, further east, facing back towards the house.
- When was the Terada Family Residence Inner Storehouse registered?
- On 25 July 2011, under registration number 27-0544, as part of a single registration covering all seven structures on the estate.
- Why does the Terada Family Residence Inner Storehouse look nothing like the main house?
- Because it does a different job. Storage called for thick earthen walls and a heavy tiled roof, the traditional answer to fire and damp.
- Can the Terada Family Residence Inner Storehouse be seen?
- Not properly. The interior is closed and the building stands deep in the plot, so only part of its roof shows from the street.
Basic Information
| Name | Terada Family Residence Inner Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 213 Shinmachi, Kaizuka City, Osaka Prefecture, and neighbouring lots |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Year Designated | Registered on 25 July 2011 (Heisei 23) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 4.9 metres by 3.9 metres, floor area 19 square metres |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | Not open to the public; exterior only |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Terada Family Residence Inner Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008733
- Terada Family Residence (Kaizuka City)
- https://www.city.kaizuka.lg.jp/bunkazai/bunkazaidata/bunkazai/kuni_sitei/tourokubunkazai/teradake.html
Last verified: 2026.09.23
