What Is the Seto Family Residence Grain Storehouse?
The Seto Family Residence Grain Storehouse (瀬戸家住宅穀蔵, Seto-ke Jūtaku Kokugura) is a two-storey earthen-walled Dozo-zukuri rice store on the Seto family estate in Fujii, Fujita-cho, Gobo City, Wakayama Prefecture; a Munafuda ridge tablet dates it to 1842, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2 November 2018. It covers 55 square meters.
It is the only one of the seven registered buildings that goes back to the Edo period. The other six date from the late Taisho and early Showa periods, which makes the Seto Family Residence Grain Storehouse about 80 years older than its neighbors.
It stands toward the west end of the estate's north side, between the document storehouse to the east and the west storehouse to the west. It was built to hold tenant rice, the share of the harvest that tenant farmers paid to the family as rent.
A Headman's Rice Store
In the late Edo period the Seto family served as ōjōya, the regional headmen who oversaw a group of villages on behalf of the domain and handled the collection of their rice taxes. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that the Seto Family Residence Grain Storehouse is the oldest building on the estate and conveys what the household was like in its days as ōjōya.
It was registered under number 30-0242 for its contribution to the historic landscape. On an estate otherwise rebuilt in the Taisho period, this storehouse is the one physical record of the family's scale in the Edo period.
A Storehouse That Was Moved
The Seto Family Residence Grain Storehouse was not built where it stands today. According to Wakayama Prefecture and Gobo City, it was moved within the grounds when the main house was built in the late Taisho period (1919 to 1926). The technique, hikiya, lifts a building intact and rolls it to a new site on rollers or dollies, without taking it apart. The national database likewise records a relocation in the late Taisho period.
Shifting a storehouse with heavy earthen walls and a tiled roof in one piece was no small job. It suggests that when the family planned its new house, keeping the ancestral rice store was a deliberate choice.
Two Rooms on Each Floor
The Seto Family Residence Grain Storehouse has a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof with its ridge running east to west, laid in Hongawarabuki round-and-flat tiling. The door opens on the east side under a Hisashi canopy. The walls are Shikkui plaster over a skirting of vertical boards, with a Hachimaki band of thick plaster under the eaves.
Inside, each floor is split into a front room and a back room, and the roof rests on raking Nobori-bari beams. The 55-square-meter store is thus divided into four rooms across its two floors.
Visiting the Seto Family Residence Grain Storehouse
The Seto Family Residence Grain Storehouse is privately owned and its interior is closed. There is no announced opportunity to see the ridge tablet.
It stands on the north street, so its long east-west side can be seen from the road. The west storehouse beside it is almost the same size, but its ridge runs the other way. Please view the buildings from the public street and do not enter the property.
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Q&A
- When was the Seto Family Residence Grain Storehouse built?
- In 1842, according to its ridge tablet. It is the oldest of the seven registered Seto family buildings.
- What was the Seto Family Residence Grain Storehouse used for?
- Storing tenant rice. The family served as regional headmen in the late Edo period, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs says the storehouse reflects the household of that time.
- Is the Seto Family Residence Grain Storehouse in its original position?
- No. When the main house was built in the late Taisho period, between 1919 and 1926, the storehouse was moved intact to its present spot within the grounds.
- When did the Seto Family Residence Grain Storehouse become a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- On 2 November 2018, as registration number 30-0242, for its contribution to the historic landscape.
- Can I visit the Seto Family Residence Grain Storehouse?
- The interior is closed, but the storehouse faces the north street and its exterior can be seen from the public road.
Basic Information
| Name | Seto Family Residence Grain Storehouse (瀬戸家住宅穀蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2215 Fujii, Fujita-cho, Gobo City, Wakayama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), No. 30-0242 |
| Year Designated | Registered 2 November 2018 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 2-storey earthen-walled storehouse, tiled roof, building area 55 square meters |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Closed to the public (exterior visible from the north street) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Seto Family Residence Grain Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00012604
- Cultural Heritage Online: Seto Family Residence Grain Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/402678
- Seto Family Residence (Gobo City, in Japanese)
- https://www.city.gobo.lg.jp/sosiki/kyoikuiin/kyoiku/tanto/bunnkazai/shinobunkazai/kenzoubutu/1559723929300.html
- Seto Family Residence (Wakayama Cultural Heritage portal, Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education, in Japanese)
- https://wakayama-bunkazai.jp/bunkazai/bunkazai-spot-996/
Last verified: 2026.09.27
