Matsumoto Family Residence Grain Storehouse

About the Grain Storehouse

The Matsumoto Family Residence Grain Storehouse (松本家住宅穀蔵, Matsumoto-ke Jūtaku Kokugura) is a 2-story Dozo-zukuri earthen-walled storehouse built around 1907 in Chuo-cho, Mibu Town, Tochigi Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on June 21, 2013. It measures 7.3 m by 4.6 m, with a building area of 33 m², under a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles.

It is the middle one of three storehouses standing in a row at the back of the estate, its ridge running north to south. The Document Storehouse is to the west and the Living Quarters Storehouse to the east, and all three share the same dimensions and roof form.

As the name says, this was where rice and other grain were kept. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that the Matsumoto Family Residence Grain Storehouse, together with its two neighbors, makes up a traditional estate layout.

Why It Was Registered

The registration number is 09-0208, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country. Three storehouses of one size standing in a row are a classic sight in the compounds of old landed and merchant families, and the effect depends on all three being there.

Each is registered separately, yet the Agency's description of every one of them refers to the others. The Grain Storehouse sits at the center of the row and ties the group together.

What to Look For

The distinctive feature of the Matsumoto Family Residence Grain Storehouse is inside. Although it has two stories, the northern half has no upper floor and is left open to the roof as a Fukinuke void. The Agency explains this as an arrangement for storing grain conveniently.

Stacking rice bales takes height. On the open side, bales could be piled almost to the rafters, while the floored southern half left an upper level for lighter goods. The building appears to have been divided according to what it held.

The door is in the south gable wall, a Tsumairi entrance, and the upper floor has windows in both the north and south gables, so goods came in from the south and air could pass straight through. From outside, its doorway lines up with that of the Living Quarters Storehouse next door; only the Document Storehouse at the west end opens to the side.

Visiting

The Matsumoto Family Residence Grain Storehouse stands within a private estate, and its interior is not open to the public. Whether the open interior can be seen, and the grounds entered at all, depends on special openings.

Because it is the middle building of the three, how much of it can be seen from the public road has not been confirmed. Look and photograph only from the road. Access and opening information for the whole estate are on the Matsumoto Family Residence page.