Kamamura Family Residence Storehouse

What the Storehouse Is

The Kamamura Family Residence Storehouse (鎌村家住宅蔵) is a two-storey earth-walled storehouse (Dozo-zukuri) built in 1891 in Boso, Mima-cho, Mima City, Tokushima Prefecture, and entered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on December 5, 2007.

It stands west of the main house with its ridge running north to south. The plan is long and narrow, 8 by 3 Ken bays, with a building area of 189 square meters. The gable roof is laid in hongawara tile.

Why It Was Registered

Like the other eight Kamamura items, the storehouse was listed as a structure that contributes to the historic landscape. Its registration number is 36-0062.

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the interior is split in two. The southern three bays form a partitioned general storeroom, and the northern part served as a rice store. Each section has its own door on the east side under a small tiled canopy. A storehouse that sets aside most of its length for rice says a good deal about the scale of the household's harvest.

The roof framing uses noboribari, rafter-beams that rise at an angle instead of lying flat, which leaves the upper floor open up into the roof space for storage.

The north end of the West Earthen Wall is thought to have originally joined an earlier building here. The 1891 storehouse probably replaced a structure that stood on the same spot in late Edo times.

What to Look For

The first thing to notice on the Kamamura Family Residence Storehouse is the color of its walls. The agency notes that they were left at the intermediate plaster coat. Earthen storehouses were usually finished with a final skin of white Shikkui lime plaster, but here that last coat was never applied, so the walls show the earth tone of the undercoat. Set against the white walls of the main house next door, the contrast is obvious, and it is presumably what the agency means by a distinctive appearance.

Two doorways open on the east face, one for the storeroom and one for the rice store, each with its own little tiled canopy. Following their positions from outside tells you how the inside is divided.

The south gable is where the West Earthen Wall begins. Standing at that junction, you can see how the storehouse once anchored the western boundary of the property.

Visiting

The storehouse belongs to a private home, and its interior is probably not shown to visitors. Any visit has to be arranged with the owner in advance; ask then whether the inside can be seen.

For the exterior, the passage between the main house and the storehouse gives the best view of the two east doorways, and the south side of the compound shows the south gable and the start of the earthen wall. Check with the owner about photography beforehand.