Banjo Brewery New Storehouse

What the Banjo Brewery New Storehouse Is

The Banjo Brewery New Storehouse (萬乗醸造新蔵, Banjō Jōzō Shingura) is an early Meiji 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 23-0239. It runs north to south on the western part of the brewery site, west of the main house and abutting the north wall of the middle storehouse.

The building measures 15 Ken along the ridge and 6 ken across, with a Kirizuma-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles over two storeys and a floor area of 298 square meters. Among the three fermentation halls at the brewery it is second in area only to the middle storehouse. Construction is dated between 1868 and 1911.

A fermentation hall is where steamed rice, koji and water are combined in vats to make the mash. Inside the Banjo Brewery New Storehouse, 8 continuous posts rise through both floors in two rows. The span across the building is wide enough that the roof load had to be picked up partway.

Why It Was Registered

The Banjo Brewery New Storehouse was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation. Its gable end faces Shinmachi-dori, and together with the main house and the storehouse it gives that stretch of street its weight.

Twelve structures at the brewery were registered together on 31 July 2007. Three of them are fermentation halls: the original storehouse, the middle storehouse and the new storehouse. Their construction dates run from the late Edo period into the middle Meiji years, so the sequence of buildings records how the operation grew.

The Banjo Brewery New Storehouse falls between the other two in date. The Aichi Prefectural Board of Education records that the Kuno family leased part of the present site late in the Edo period and built the new hall there. The name refers to its newness relative to the middle storehouse, which already stood.

What to Look For

What Shinmachi-dori shows is the north gable of the Banjo Brewery New Storehouse, the triangular end of the roof. A building 15 ken long is being seen across its short dimension, so the frontage is narrow and the height carries.

The two storeys are clad differently. The ground floor has vertical boarding; the upper floor is faced in namako iron sheeting, thin corrugated plate that came into use after the Meiji Restoration. It reads as a metal substitute for the tiled and plastered walls of older storehouses, and the ribs pick up raking light as a fine stripe.

At its south end the Banjo Brewery New Storehouse meets the north wall of the middle storehouse. The step between the two roofs is hard to see from outside the premises. Walking west along Shinmachi-dori and looking back, there is a point where the long ridge of the new hall shows above the roof of the main house.

The polished rice warehouse and the detached quarters lie to the east, enclosing the courtyard south of the main house. The Banjo Brewery New Storehouse forms the western side of that courtyard. The yard itself is out of sight, though following the roofs from the street makes its outline reasonably clear.

Visiting

The Banjo Brewery New Storehouse is still used for brewing. The interior is closed and the grounds cannot be entered. Viewing is limited to the exterior from Shinmachi-dori. The company states on the FAQ page of its official site that it does not sell sake at the brewery.

Photographing the exterior from the public street is not restricted, and the north gable faces the road squarely. Winter is the brewing season and staff pass through the gates, so avoid photographing into the premises or at work in progress.

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. Past the black wall of the main house, the gable of the Banjo Brewery New Storehouse comes to the street. Odaka Castle Park lies further west. Midori Ward publishes a 5.7 kilometre walking route, the Odaka Castle Town Course, which takes in this brewing street.