The Smallest of the Six
The Omi Hino Merchant Museum (Former Yamanaka Hyoemon Family Residence) Storage Shed (近江日野商人館（旧山中兵右衛門家住宅）物置) is a small outbuilding at the Hino home of the merchant Yamanaka Hyoemon in Okubo, Hino, Shiga Prefecture; it was built around 1943 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 16 January 1998.
The national register records a wooden single-storey building with a tiled roof and a footprint of just 5 square metres, the smallest of the 6 registered buildings at the Former Yamanaka Hyoemon Family Residence. It is a plain gabled structure in the Kirizuma-zukuri manner with a Sangawara-buki pantile roof, and its outer walls are clad in vertical boards.
It joins the north end of the well house and shares an eave line with the kamaya, the kitchen wing of the main house, tucked into the western corner of the compound where the service buildings cluster.
A Companion to the Well House
The Storage Shed of the Former Yamanaka Hyoemon Family Residence was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. Its date does not come from a written record; according to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, its timbers and other materials suggest it was built together with the well house, which is dated to around 1943.
The Agency values the shed as a record of everyday life in the house. With a small storage hut still standing beside the kitchen, not just the formal rooms and storehouses, you can trace where the daily work of the household went on.
How to Look at It
The Omi Hino Merchant Museum Storage Shed makes most sense seen together with the well house and the kitchen wing. Standing eave to eave, the three linked water, cooking and storage within a few steps of one another.
On the building itself, notice the vertical board cladding. It is a very different finish from the plastered earthen walls of the storehouses, a sign that even the outbuildings of one household were built to different standards according to their use and rank.
Visiting the Storage Shed
The Storage Shed of the Former Yamanaka Hyoemon Family Residence stands at the back of the museum grounds, north of the well house. The museum's published information does not mention access to it, so ask at reception whether you can see it up close and take photographs. Opening hours, admission and directions are on the Omi Hino Merchant Museum page.
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Q&A
- What is the Omi Hino Merchant Museum Storage Shed?
- A small wooden single-storey gabled building with a pantile roof and vertical board walls, only 5 square metres in area and the smallest of the 6 registered buildings.
- When was the storage shed of the Former Yamanaka Hyoemon Family Residence built?
- The national register dates it to around 1943. Its materials suggest it was built at the same time as the well house.
- Where is the Omi Hino Merchant Museum Storage Shed?
- On the west side of the compound, joined to the north end of the well house and sharing an eave line with the kitchen wing of the main house.
- Why is the Omi Hino Merchant Museum Storage Shed a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It is valued as a record of everyday life in the house and was registered on 16 January 1998 for its contribution to the historic landscape.
- Can visitors see the Omi Hino Merchant Museum Storage Shed?
- The museum publishes no information about access, so ask at reception whether you can see it up close and take photographs.
Basic Information
| Name | Omi Hino Merchant Museum (Former Yamanaka Hyoemon Family Residence) Storage Shed (近江日野商人館（旧山中兵右衛門家住宅）物置) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1011 Okubo, Hino-cho, Gamo-gun, Shiga Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 1998/1/16 (Heisei 10) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Wooden, single storey, tiled roof; building area 5 square metres |
| Owner | Hino Town |
| Public Access | Within the Omi Hino Merchant Museum grounds; no published information on interior access |
References
- Cultural Heritage Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: 近江日野商人館（旧山中兵右衛門家住宅）物置
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00000442
- Cultural Heritage Online: 近江日野商人館（旧山中兵右衛門家住宅）物置
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/165752
Last verified: 2026.09.24
