Banjo Brewery Middle Storehouse

What the Banjo Brewery Middle Storehouse Is

The Banjo Brewery Middle Storehouse (萬乗醸造中蔵, Banjō Jōzō Nakagura) is a late Edo-period two-storey timber fermentation hall in Otakacho, Midori Ward, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on 31 July 2007 under registration number 23-0238. It runs north to south in the southwestern part of the brewery site, west of the original storehouse.

It measures 14 Ken along the ridge and 4 ken across, with a Kirizuma-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles over two storeys and a floor area of 343 square meters, the largest of the twelve registered structures at the brewery. A lean-to roof 2.5 ken wide extends the west side, widening the ground floor to 6.5 ken. Construction is dated between 1751 and 1829.

Of the three fermentation halls, the oldest is the one whose name places it in the middle. The original storehouse was rebuilt in the middle Meiji years and is in fact the newest of the three, so the Banjo Brewery Middle Storehouse is the hall that survives from the founding period of the business.

Why It Was Registered

The Banjo Brewery Middle Storehouse was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation. It stands at the core of the three fermentation halls and carries the oldest layer of brewing at Odaka.

Twelve structures were registered together on 31 July 2007, spanning construction dates from the late Edo period into the early Showa years. The Banjo Brewery Middle Storehouse belongs to the earliest of those layers, sharing its estimated date of 1751 to 1829 with the inner well and the former brewing storehouse with barrel repair shop.

The Aichi Prefectural Board of Education records that shipments of sake from the Chita region to Edo grew heavy in the second half of the 18th century. Nagoya's Midori Ward notes a licence register entry of 200 koku for Otaka village and shipment by cargo boat as far as Edo. The Banjo Brewery Middle Storehouse is production equipment from that period surviving as a building.

What to Look For

The Banjo Brewery Middle Storehouse runs 14 ken, roughly 25 meters. Three continuous posts stand along the central line, each rising in one piece through both floors to carry the roof load at the middle of a long span. They govern how the interior reads.

The lean-to on the west side is worth attention. A single-pitch roof 2.5 ken wide is set against the main body, so the ground floor alone projects westward. Seen from outside, a low roof runs out from partway up a two-storey wall, and the section of the Banjo Brewery Middle Storehouse is wider below than above.

The north end meets the new storehouse with no gap between them, and the roofs run on. The original storehouse lies to the east, giving three fermentation halls across the southern part of the site. With the former rice milling workshop, the bottling workshop and the polished rice warehouse enclosing the courtyard to the south of the main house, they make up the whole brewing compound.

None of this layout can be read from outside the walls. From the street, the practical view is the overlap of roofs seen from the western end of Shinmachi-dori.

Visiting

The Banjo Brewery Middle Storehouse is a working fermentation hall. The interior is closed and the grounds cannot be entered. Because it sits in the southwestern corner of the site, there are few points on the public road that give a direct view of its walls. The company states on the FAQ page of its official site that it does not sell sake at the brewery.

Photography from the public road is not restricted. The Banjo Brewery Middle Storehouse is largely screened from the street, so it registers as part of the roofscape rather than as a facade. Avoid photographing into the premises or at people at work.

Odaka Station on the JR Tokaido Main Line is about 15 minutes away on foot. Enter the old quarter from the station and follow the left bank of the Otaka River westward into the brewing street. Midori Ward publishes a 5.7 kilometre walking route, the Odaka Castle Town Course, which runs through it on the way to the castle site. Three sake breweries still operate in Odaka.