The Building That Carries the Trays
Min'unkaku Ochiairo Pantry and Staircase Building (眠雲閣落合樓配膳室階段棟) is a two-storey timber building of 1933 to 1937 at the hot spring inn Ochiairo in Yugashima, Izu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, entered on the national register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on 18 November 1999. It has an Irimoya-zukuri hipped-and-gabled roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles and a floor area of 73 square metres.
Its job is to join Min'untei to the rosewood banquet hall. The northern half is a stairwell, the southern half a service pantry. There are no guest rooms here and no reception rooms. Min'unkaku Ochiairo Pantry and Staircase Building exists to move food and to move people upstairs.
Why It Is Registered
The criterion cited is that the building serves as a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database notes that although this is an ancillary structure, the materials are of good quality and the standard of carpentry is high.
How much care goes into the back-of-house is where the attitudes of an owner and a master carpenter show most clearly. Nobody lingers in a pantry or on a service stair, so cheaper timber here would have saved money without a single guest noticing. That the builders of Min'unkaku Ochiairo Pantry and Staircase Building declined to do that is part of why all seven buildings were listed together.
One further fact is recorded here and nowhere else on the site. The entry names the master carpenter responsible for the campaign: Aoki Seihei, who lived at nearby Ōtaki and directed the building of the entrance building, the main building and the rest. Of the seven registered entries, only the one for Min'unkaku Ochiairo Pantry and Staircase Building tells us who ran the work.
What to Look At
Look at the stair as a piece of equipment. In an inn of this period the stair was climbed by staff carrying loaded trays, and tread depth, riser height and handrail position were settled by that task rather than by appearance. Placing the stairwell in the northern half of Min'unkaku Ochiairo Pantry and Staircase Building reads as a decision to give the southern half, the pantry, the daylight and the working room.
At 73 square metres this is the second smallest of the seven, after the 18 square metres of the reception building. It is still two storeys under a hipped-and-gabled roof, tiled to match the banquet hall next door. Nothing was simplified because it was only a connector. From outside, the roof of Min'unkaku Ochiairo Pantry and Staircase Building drops one step between the 378 square metres of the banquet hall and the 215 square metres of Min'untei, and that drop tells you what the building is for.
The junctions repay attention as well. Linking structures finished at different dates means reconciling floor levels and roof lines on site. Walking through, follow where the floor steps and where the ceiling changes plane, and the amount of adjustment this building absorbed becomes visible.
Visiting
Min'unkaku Ochiairo Pantry and Staircase Building belongs to a working inn and is not open to the general public. Because it doubles as a passage and a stair, though, any guest heading for the upper hall of the banquet hall or out to Min'untei goes through it. It is a building you notice in transit rather than one you stop in front of.
The pantry itself is a staff work area and is not somewhere guests go. What a visitor sees of Min'unkaku Ochiairo Pantry and Staircase Building is the stairwell and the passage. The inn's walking commentary for guests uses this building as part of its route.
The inn publishes no statement on photography. Staff pass through with trays at certain hours, so keep the way clear. Directions to the site and the conditions for staying are set out on the Min'unkaku Ochiairo page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Shizuoka
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Min'unkaku Ochiairo Pantry and Staircase Building
- [ Mt. Fuji Views & Atami Hot Spring Resorts ]
Questions and Answers
- What is Min'unkaku Ochiairo Pantry and Staircase Building for?
- It connects Min'untei to the rosewood banquet hall. The northern half is a stairwell and the southern half a service pantry; there are no guest rooms or reception rooms.
- Why was Min'unkaku Ochiairo Pantry and Staircase Building registered?
- Because the materials are of good quality and the carpentry is of a high standard even though the building is ancillary. Nothing was cut back simply because it was back-of-house.
- Who built Min'unkaku Ochiairo Pantry and Staircase Building?
- Aoki Seihei, a master carpenter from nearby Ōtaki. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database records that he directed the whole campaign, including the entrance building and the main building.
- How large is Min'unkaku Ochiairo Pantry and Staircase Building?
- Its floor area is 73 square metres over two timber storeys, making it the second smallest of the seven after the reception building at 18 square metres.
- Can I go inside Min'unkaku Ochiairo Pantry and Staircase Building?
- Not as a general visitor. Overnight guests pass through the stairwell and passage; the pantry is a staff work area and is closed to guests.
Basic Information
| Name | Min'unkaku Ochiairo Pantry and Staircase Building |
|---|---|
| Location | 1887-1 Yugashima, Izu City, Shizuoka Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 1999 (Heisei 11) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Floor area 73 square metres |
| Owner | Ochiairou Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Not open to the public; guests of the inn only |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Min'unkaku Ochiairo Pantry and Staircase Building
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001416
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Min'unkaku Ochiairo Min'untei
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001414
- Izu City: Nationally Designated and Registered Cultural Properties
- https://www.city.izu.shizuoka.jp/soshiki/1013/8/3/1090.html
- Ochiairo: Things to Enjoy
- https://www.ochiairo.co.jp/facility/entertainment/
Last verified: 2026.09.13
