Inoue Family Residence (Former Iwata Family Residence) Storehouse

What Is the Inoue Family Residence (Former Iwata Family Residence) Storehouse?

The Inoue Family Residence (Former Iwata Family Residence) Storehouse (井上家住宅（旧岩田家住宅）土蔵, Inoue-ke Jūtaku, Kyū Iwata-ke Jūtaku Dozō) is an earthen-walled storehouse in the northwest corner of a farmhouse estate in Nakamitani, Kinokawa City, Wakayama Prefecture; built in the late Edo period, between 1830 and 1868, it became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 7 August 2023. It is a 2-storey Dozo-zukuri building with a footprint of 24 square meters.

It is the oldest of the four registered structures on the estate, more than half a century older than the main house of around 1916. It was extended in the early Taishō period and repaired in 1995.

A Storehouse That Doubles as the Boundary

The Inoue Family Residence Storehouse was registered as number 30-0336 for its contribution to the historic landscape.

Rather than standing free inside the compound, it is set right into the corner and does duty as part of the perimeter. The walls are finished in white Shikkui lime plaster, and only the faces that look outward get a skirt of vertical boarding. Those outer walls run straight on into the earthen wall, so that storehouse and wall together draw the outline of the estate. The Agency for Cultural Affairs makes exactly this point: the storehouse and the wall form one continuous boundary.

A Floating Roof and Posts in the Gable

The roof is a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri of Sangawara-buki pantiles, built as an Okiyane: a separately framed roof set on top of the plastered body of the store. The usual explanation is that in a fire the roof could burn away while the sealed body underneath survived.

The feature the Agency singles out is the roof framing. The ridge beam and the purlins are carried on posts standing in the gable walls.

The door is on the east side, sheltered by a lean-to Geya roof. Around the opening is a decorative frame in the shape of a torii gateway, which marks the entrance clearly against the white wall.

Visiting

The Inoue Family Residence (Former Iwata Family Residence) Storehouse is privately owned and not open inside. Its east-facing door and torii frame face into the compound and cannot be seen from outside.

The outward walls join the earthen wall, but the northwest corner lies well away from the lane on the south side of the estate. The full-front photograph on the Agency for Cultural Affairs database shows the building. On site, please do not enter the private grounds.