The Old Rice Storehouse of the Tsukada Residence
At the southwestern corner of the long, narrow Tsukada plot, right at the river's edge, stands the smallest of the family's storehouses. The old rice storehouse covers barely 20 square metres of ground, a modest footprint beside the great timber warehouse nearby. Yet its scale is exactly the point: this was a working outbuilding, purpose-built to keep grain, and it survives as part of the everyday machinery of a wealthy merchant household.
The Tsukada made their fortune as wholesale timber dealers on the Uzuma River, shipping logs downstream toward the Tone River and Edo. A house of that standing needed to store more than timber, and rice, both as food and as a form of wealth, had its own dedicated building. Dating from the Taishō period, the rice storehouse is a later addition to a plot whose main house and fence already stood.
Small Building, Clear Purpose
Registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in October 2000 under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape, the storehouse is a compact dozō of earthen-walled construction, two storeys under a gabled pantile roof with its ridge running north to south. What sets it apart from an ordinary store is its unusual internal height. Because it held rice, the interior was built tall, giving the little building a stature its floor area does not suggest.
The exterior was originally finished in white plaster, and the northern gable end is clad in sasarako-shitami weatherboarding, the same battened boarding seen on the main house. Small though it is, the rice storehouse completes the picture of a merchant estate in which every function, dwelling, records, grain and stock, had its own carefully built shelter.
Seeing It in Context
The reward of the rice storehouse is comparison. Set beside the towering timber warehouse and the formal main house, it shows how the Tsukada calibrated their buildings to their contents, giving a small store of grain a tall, tightly sealed room while a stock of choice timber called for something vast. Reading the plot as a set of related volumes is part of the pleasure of a visit.
The compound is open as the Tsukada History and Legend Museum, where the rice storehouse takes its place in a circuit of buildings ranged along the Uzuma. A river cruise dock next door lets you follow the same waterline the grain and timber once travelled, and see how tightly the whole estate hugs the bank.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Tochigi
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Tsukada Family Residence, Former Rice Storehouse
- [ Nikko Toshogu Shrine & Kegon Falls Day Trip ]
Q&A
- Why is the rice storehouse so small?
- It was a single-purpose outbuilding for storing grain, with a footprint of only about 20 square metres. Its value lies in completing the working layout of the merchant estate.
- Why is the interior unusually tall?
- Because it was built to hold rice, the internal height was raised, giving the small building more presence than its floor area would suggest.
- When was it built?
- It dates from the Taishō period, between 1912 and 1925, making it a later addition to the Tsukada plot.
- How is it finished on the outside?
- The walls were originally white plaster, and the northern gable end is clad in battened weatherboarding of the same type used on the main house.
Basic Information
| Name | The Old Rice Storehouse of the Tsukada Residence |
|---|---|
| Location | 2-16 Yamato-cho, Tochigi City, Tochigi Prefecture |
| Classification | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (registered 18 October 2000) |
| Registration No. | 09-0047 |
| Period | Taishō period (1912 to 1925) |
| Structure | Earthen-walled (dozō), two storeys, tiled roof; building area approx. 20 sq m; one building |
| Owner | Tsukada History and Legend Museum (general incorporated foundation) |
| Access | Open to the public as the Tsukada History and Legend Museum; usually closed Mondays |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties — Old Rice Storehouse of the Tsukada Residence
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001893
- Tochigi City Tourism Association — Tsukada History and Legend Museum
- https://www.tochigi-kankou.or.jp/spot/tsukadarekishikan
- Tochigi no Tabi (Tochigi Prefecture Tourism) — Tsukada History and Legend Museum
- https://www.tochigiji.or.jp/spot/s3325
Last verified: 2026.07.03