The estate's great storehouse
Behind the main house, on the east side, stands the storehouse, the largest of the utilitarian buildings on the Uchiyama estate. Though it reads as a single structure from outside, it is divided internally into several compartments, traditionally described as an upper, middle and lower store together with a miso store.
A storehouse on this scale is itself a measure of the household's standing. For a thousand-koku landlord, the kura protected rice, tools, valuables and preserved food against fire, damp and the long Hokuriku winter.
A working record of rural wealth
The Uchiyama held land at Miyao for roughly four and a half centuries, and under the Toyama domain the family head served as tomura, a senior village officer. The storehouse belongs to the same building campaign that shaped the estate around 1868, and its compartments reflect how a large farming household sorted and secured its goods.
Listed on the national register of tangible cultural properties in 1998 as part of the estate group, the storehouse survives as a plain but telling counterpart to the formal rooms of the main house.
Seeing it today
Walk the grounds beyond the main house and the storehouse comes into view as a solid, thick-walled mass, the kind of building meant to outlast fire. Just to its south stands the tea room Yauchou, once a study, so the two can be taken in on the same short circuit of the rear garden.
The estate underwent major repairs between 2005 and 2011, returning the buildings toward their original appearance, so what you see today reflects careful conservation rather than neglect.
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Questions and Answers
- Is the storehouse one building or several?
- It is registered as a single structure, but inside it is partitioned into separate stores, traditionally counted as an upper, middle and lower store plus a miso store.
- What was kept in it?
- As on any large farming estate, the kura held rice, tools, household valuables and preserved foods, protected from fire and the damp Hokuriku climate by its thick earthen walls.
- How old is the storehouse?
- It belongs to the estate's late-Edo building campaign, generally placed around 1868, though ancillary structures like this are less precisely dated than the main house.
- Can I see inside?
- The storehouse is part of the publicly opened estate. Access to interiors can vary, so check current arrangements with the site; admission to the grounds is 250 yen, closed Tuesdays.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Uchiyama Family Residence, Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 903 Miyao, Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (national) |
| Date registered | 23 July 1998 |
| Count | 1 structure |
| Date of construction | said to belong to the estate's late-Edo fabric (around 1868) |
| Owner | Toyama Prefecture |
| Access | Open to the public as Uchiyama-tei, a branch of the Toyama Prefectural Culture Hall. Admission 250 yen. Open 9:30-17:00; closed Tuesdays and over the New Year period. |
References
- Toyama Cultural Foundation — Gono no Yakata Uchiyama-tei (official)
- https://www.bunka-toyama.jp/uchiyama/index.php
- Toyama Cultural Foundation — Uchiyama-tei Facility Guide
- https://www.bunka-toyama.jp/uchiyama/facilityguide/index.html
- Wikipedia — Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Toyama Prefecture
- https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AF%8C%E5%B1%B1%E7%9C%8C%E3%81%AE%E7%99%BB%E9%8C%B2%E6%9C%89%E5%BD%A2%E6%96%87%E5%8C%96%E8%B2%A1%E4%B8%80%E8%A6%A7
- Toyama Prefecture — Uchiyama-tei
- https://www.pref.toyama.jp/1603/kurashi/sportsleisure/leisure/kj00011575/kj00011575-027-01.html
Last verified: 2026.07.04