Banjo Brewery Storehouse

What the Banjo Brewery Storehouse Is

The Banjo Brewery Storehouse (萬乗醸造土蔵, Banjō Jōzō Dozō) is a Taisho-period plastered storehouse in Otakacho, Midori Ward, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on 31 July 2007 under registration number 23-0242. It combines a two-storey Dozo-zukuri storehouse with a single-storey timber front annex, and stands at the northeast corner of the brewery site where Shinmachi-dori meets the side road.

The two parts differ in character. The storehouse proper runs north to south, 6 Ken by 2 ken, roofed in Kirizuma-zukuri form with Sangawara-buki pantiles over two storeys. The front annex, called a kuramae, runs east to west, 4.5 ken by 3 ken, single storey, and attaches directly to the east wall of the main house. Together they cover 93 square meters. The building is dated between 1912 and 1925.

In the Agency for Cultural Affairs database the Banjo Brewery Storehouse is classified under housing rather than industry, unlike the fermentation halls and workshops on the same site. It was a household storehouse belonging to the Kuno family residence, not a place where sake was brewed.

Why It Was Registered

The Banjo Brewery Storehouse was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation. The reasoning rests on its position at the corner, where it closes one end of the street picture.

Twelve structures at the brewery were registered together on 31 July 2007. Only two of them, this storehouse and the detached quarters, are classified as housing. The rest are fermentation halls, workshops and wells. These two carry the domestic side of a compound otherwise devoted to production.

On most brewery sites the production buildings survive and the family housing is replaced. At Odaka the main house, the Banjo Brewery Storehouse and the detached quarters remain on the same ground as the brewing halls, and this storehouse sits on the seam between the two.

What to Look For

The wall changes finish partway up. The lower band of the Banjo Brewery Storehouse is clad in sasarako shitami-ita, horizontal weatherboarding held by vertical battens that are notched in steps so they seat over the laps of the boards. Those notches catch light along their edges, and the board wall gains a rhythm it would not otherwise have. Above the band the wall is black lime plaster.

That black upper wall matches the street front of the main house to the west, and the front annex is plastered black as well. The result is an unbroken dark surface running from the main house to the corner. Standing at the corner and looking west gives the full length of it.

Across the side road to the east stands the former brewing storehouse with barrel repair shop, its own dark walls facing back. The road runs between two black faces. The building at the end of Shinmachi-dori catches the eye down the street, but it is the Banjo Brewery Storehouse that turns the walker around the corner first.

The front annex is lower than the storehouse behind it and joins straight onto the two-storey main house, so the roofline steps twice within a short stretch of street.

Visiting

The Banjo Brewery Storehouse stands inside the premises of an operating sake company. The interior is closed and the grounds cannot be entered. Viewing is limited to the exterior from Shinmachi-dori and the side road. The company states on the FAQ page of its official site that it does not sell sake at the brewery, so there is no shop or visitor reception.

Photographing the exterior from the public road is not restricted, and the corner position allows the walls to be seen from two directions. Avoid pointing a camera 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; the Banjo Brewery Storehouse appears as a black corner. Continuing west leads to Odaka Castle Park. Midori Ward publishes a 5.7 kilometre walking route, the Odaka Castle Town Course, which runs through this brewing street.