About the Yamamoto Family Residence Rice Storehouse
The Yamamoto Family Residence Rice Storehouse (山本家住宅米蔵, Yamamoto-ke Jūtaku Komegura) is a fireproof earthen storehouse with a cattle shed attached, in Mori, Hakuta-cho, Yasugi City, Shimane Prefecture, built in the early Meiji era and entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2005. It stands toward the back of the long, narrow Yamamoto plot and covers 19 square meters including the shed.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs registered the Yamamoto Family Residence Rice Storehouse for its contribution to the historic landscape. Its commentary calls the building plain, but valuable as an outbuilding that shows how a Meiji-era estate was organized.
Rice Store and Cattle Shed Under One Ridge
The storehouse itself is a two-story Dozo-zukuri building, and on its west side is a single-story cattle shed built with exposed posts (Shinkabe). Both have gabled roofs (Kirizuma-zukuri) running east to west; over the storehouse the roof is set as an Okiyane and laid with pantiles (Sangawara-buki). The door is on the south side of the storehouse, under a small eave.
The walls are finished at the middle coat. Japanese earth walls are normally built up in a base coat, a middle coat and a top coat, and here the work stopped before the lime-plaster top coat, leaving the earth plaster exposed. Next to the plastered and boarded walls of the front and small storehouses, the Yamamoto Family Residence Rice Storehouse is frankly utilitarian.
What makes it distinctive is that rice storage and a stall for an ox or cow share one building. At the back of a town-house estate, keeping the harvest and keeping the animal went on side by side.
Why It Was Registered, and What to Notice
The Yamamoto Family Residence Rice Storehouse was registered for its place in the landscape rather than for fine detail. The sequence from the main house on the road, through the storehouses and sheds behind it, to the rice store and cattle shed at the far end shows plainly how a Meiji estate was used.
Look for the join between two quite different kinds of building, an earthen storehouse and a post-and-plaster shed, under a single ridge line, and for walls left at the middle coat, never given a lime-plaster finish.
Visiting the Yamamoto Family Residence Rice Storehouse
No public opening of the Yamamoto Family Residence Rice Storehouse has been announced, and the interior cannot be seen. Standing at the back of the plot, it is unlikely to be visible from the road.
No guidance on photography exists. As the building sits at the very back of the plot, do not go looking for it down lanes or across neighboring land. Transport to Mori is on the Yamamoto Family Residence page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Shimane
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Yamamoto Family Residence Rice Storehouse
- [ Izumo Taisha Shrine & Adachi Museum Gardens ]
Q&A
- Can you visit the Yamamoto Family Residence Rice Storehouse?
- No public opening has been announced and the interior cannot be seen. It stands at the back of the plot and is hard to see from the road.
- When was the Yamamoto Family Residence Rice Storehouse built?
- In the early Meiji era. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2005.
- Where is the cattle shed at the Yamamoto Family Residence Rice Storehouse?
- It is attached to the west side of the storehouse, a single-story building with exposed posts under the same east-west gabled roof line.
- How are the walls of the Yamamoto Family Residence Rice Storehouse finished?
- They were finished at the middle coat of earth plaster, without a lime top coat. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the building as plain.
- What is the registration number of the Yamamoto Family Residence Rice Storehouse?
- 32-0037. It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape.
Basic Information
| Name | Yamamoto Family Residence Rice Storehouse (山本家住宅米蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 71 Mori, Hakuta-cho, Yasugi City, Shimane Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | 2005 (registered) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 19 square meters (two-story earthen storehouse, tiled roof, with cattle shed) |
| Owner | Not disclosed |
| Public Access | No public opening announced |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Yamamoto Family Residence Rice Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00004618
- Cultural Heritage Online: Yamamoto Family Residence Rice Storehouse (Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/140388
- Shimane Prefecture: Registered Cultural Properties (Japanese)
- https://www.pref.shimane.lg.jp/life/bunka/bunkazai/shimane/tourokubunkazai2.html
Last verified: 2026.09.29
