Uno Family Residence West Storehouse

What the West Storehouse Is

The Uno Family Residence West Storehouse (宇野家住宅西土蔵, Uno-ke Jūtaku Nishi Dozō) in Kitamachi, Kaizuka City, Osaka Prefecture, is a 2-storey Dozo-zukuri storehouse of the Meiji period (1868 to 1911) that became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on March 18, 2003. It has a Hongawarabuki tiled roof and a building area of 30 square meters.

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Uno Family Residence West Storehouse stands in the northwest corner of the plot, across a front garden to the north of the main house; Kaizuka City places it at the western corner. It was a clothing storehouse, where the family kept its own garments and household textiles.

A Roof without a Ridge Beam

What the Agency highlights about the Uno Family Residence West Storehouse is how its roof is carried, and how that differs from the east storehouse.

There is no lengthwise jimune beam. Instead, horizontal beams tie together the tops of the side posts across the width of the building, and those beams support the Munagi ridgepole. The east storehouse, by contrast, lays sloping beams onto a lengthwise ridge beam from both sides.

The east storehouse dates from the late Edo period, while the Uno Family Residence West Storehouse is Meiji, and the Agency notes that its timbers look newer. It is listed as register no. 27-0222, on the criterion that it contributes to the historic landscape of the country.

Two Storehouses, Two Wardrobes

The two storehouses of the Uno Family Residence also held different things. The Uno Family Residence West Storehouse kept the household's own clothing, while the east storehouse looked after kyōgen costumes for the takigi-nō performances at Gansenji temple.

One store for everyday dress, one for the temple's stage: in the same 2-storey form, the west storehouse served the private side of family life.

Seeing the West Storehouse

The interior of the Uno Family Residence West Storehouse is not open to the public.

The storehouse lies near the western frontage on the old Kishū Kaidō, where the high wall links it to the main house. Please look only from the public street. Access and visiting conditions for the whole property are on the Uno Family Residence page.