Yamamoto Family Residence Inner Storehouse 1

A White Storehouse on a High Stone Base

The Yamamoto Family Residence Inner Storehouse 1 (山本家住宅内蔵一, Yamamoto-ke Jūtaku Uchigura Ichi) is an earthen storehouse of 1923 at the Yamamoto family estate in Sakai, Kainan City, Wakayama Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 2, 2007. It is the western of the estate's two uchigura, or inner storehouses, and it stands on a tall base of granite.

According to the national database, the Yamamoto Family Residence Inner Storehouse 1 lies northwest of the first shop storehouse, behind the buildings that face the road and north of the main house. Its neighbor to the east, inner storehouse 2, is set with its ridge at right angles.

Built Up and Built Heavy

It is a two-storey dozo storehouse with a tiled roof and a building area of 25 square meters, three and a half bays long and two bays deep, with its ridge running north to south under a gabled roof of hongawara tiles.

The storehouse sits on a high stone base of granite. The walls are white plaster with a skirt of vertical boards protecting the lower part. The doorway is on the east side, toward the south end, under a small canopy. The roof is framed with inclined beams.

The Wakayama Association of Architects and Building Engineers notes that the Kaneichi house mark appears on the walls and round tiles of the inner storehouses.

Why It Was Registered

The Yamamoto Family Residence Inner Storehouse 1 was registered on October 2, 2007 (registration no. 30-0124) under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation.

The national database calls it the anchor of the view from the west: lifted on its stone base, the white storehouse is the most prominent thing on that side of the estate. With inner storehouse 2 dating from the middle Taishō years and this one from 1923, both inner storehouses belong to the Taishō period.

What to Look For

Start with the granite base. Raising the storehouse well off the ground makes the white walls and heavy roof read a full step higher than they would otherwise.

Then compare it with its neighbor. Inner storehouse 1 runs north to south under hongawara tiles; inner storehouse 2 runs east to west under pan tiles. Two storehouses side by side, each with its own orientation and roofing. Keep an eye out for the Kaneichi mark on walls and tiles.

Seeing Inner Storehouse 1

The Yamamoto Family Residence Inner Storehouse 1 stands deep inside a private estate, and neither the interior nor the grounds are open. The national database mentions the view from the west, but it has not been confirmed that this viewpoint is on a public road. Please look only from public land. Directions are on the Yamamoto Family Residence page.