Onoguchi Family Residence Compost Shed

What Is the Onoguchi Family Residence Compost Shed?

The Onoguchi Family Residence Compost Shed (小野口家住宅堆肥舎, Onoguchi-ke Jūtaku Taihisha) is a single-story stone farm building in Tanomachi, Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, believed to date from the late Meiji era, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 14, 1999.

It stands on the west side of the estate, just north of the former drying shed across a narrow passage. The roof is tiled and the building covers 41 square meters. A compost shed is where manure and plant waste were piled and left to mature before being spread on the fields, so this building speaks directly to the Onoguchi family's life as farmers.

No ink inscription giving a date has been found, and both the Agency for Cultural Affairs and Utsunomiya City present the late Meiji date as an estimate.

Stone Walls Under a Truss Roof

The walls of the Onoguchi Family Residence Compost Shed are built of stacked Ōya stone blocks, which Utsunomiya City also records as the material. Unlike the Edo and early Meiji storehouses, where a timber frame carries a skin of stone, here the masonry itself holds the building up.

The roof is a Yosemune-zukuri hip roof, sloping on all four sides, and it is framed with a Truss, a Western system of triangles that carries the load across the span. The Agency for Cultural Affairs specifically draws attention to this pairing of stone walls and a Western-style roof frame.

It is worth pausing on the fact that a farm building received an up-to-date roof structure. The 1876 gatehouse borrowed Western forms in the shape of its arches; the compost shed takes the influence a step further, into the structure itself.

Openings Dressed in Stone

The Agency for Cultural Affairs names three design touches. There are small canopies of Ōya stone set over the openings, windows it describes as pine-motif, and carefully laid stonework at the corners.

The stone canopies project over the doors and windows to throw off rain and give the plain masonry some shadow and depth. The pine-motif windows appear to work a pine pattern into the shape of the opening. The corner stonework defines the angles of the building and sharpens its outline.

The compost shed was registered as a model of architectural form, under registration number 09-0017. Care lavished on a purely practical building is what earned it that status.

How to See It

From the west side of the estate you can see the compost shed standing north of the drying shed across the passage. The stone wall also connects to it, so it forms part of the stone frontage that runs north from the gatehouse.

From outside, look for the stone canopies over the openings and the treatment of the corners. The truss is inside the roof and cannot be seen from the lane. Entering the grounds requires the owner's consent, and details on visiting and access are gathered on the Onoguchi Family Residence page.