Nakasada Shoten Shosan Storehouse

A roof built to keep the floor clear of posts

Nakasada Shoten Shosan Storehouse is a single-storey earthen-walled storehouse of around 1928 in the town of Taketoyo, Aichi Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2016. It occupies the southeast corner of the premises of Nakasada Shoten (中定商店昭三蔵, also written Nakasada Shōten Shōsan-gura), a maker of soybean miso and tamari soy sauce, and it is the largest of the company's three registered buildings.

The floor area is 202 square meters. The walls are Dozo-zukuri and the tiled roof is Kirizuma-zukuri, entered from the gable end in the manner called Tsumairi. Set beside the Daigo Storehouse at 106 square meters and the Shoni Storehouse at 87 square meters, this building is close to double the size of either. The difference in floor area is a difference in what stood on the floor.

It was built for mashing and pressing. Rows of large wooden vats leave no room for posts, so the roof was framed as a king post truss and carries a span of about 11 meters without intermediate support. A vertical member at the ridge takes diagonal braces down to each side and holds up the tie beam below, a Western form of roof framing that entered Japan from the Meiji era onward. In Nakasada Shoten Shosan Storehouse a Japanese storehouse wall and an imported roof frame are stacked one on the other.

Why it was registered, and the row of high windows

Nakasada Shoten Shosan Storehouse was entered on the register of Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 29 November 2016 under registration number 23-0470, cited for its contribution to the historic landscape of the country. The Daigo Storehouse (23-0468) and the Shoni Storehouse (23-0469) were registered on the same day.

Outside, the placement of the windows is the thing to notice. They sit high on the wall rather than at eye level, and each carries a small projecting hood. In a building filled with vats, the lower half of every wall is blocked. Lifting the openings clears the vats and lets light and air reach the room, while the hoods keep rain out. A decision taken for the work became the face of the building.

Nakasada Shoten Shosan Storehouse stands at the southeast corner of the site, facing the road. The black gable end with its line of high windows is named in the registration record as a feature of the brewing streetscape of Taketoyo.

The national record lists repairs around 1945, then in 1988 and 2000. The building has been maintained for roughly a century without changing what it was for.

What to look for

Tsumairi means entry from the gable end, the side where the triangle of the roof is visible. A hirairi storehouse presents a long eaves wall instead; Nakasada Shoten Shosan Storehouse turns its gable to the front. The span of about 11 meters becomes the outline of that triangle, so the width of the interior can be read from the street.

The high windows change through the day. Because the hoods are shallow, the openings fall into shadow while the sun is high, and light reaches deeper into them as it drops. Walking past on the diagonal shows the hoods overlapping one another, which a straight-on view flattens out.

Toward the north of the same site stands the Daigo Storehouse of 1916, and to the south the Shoni Storehouse of around 1927. The Daigo Storehouse carries a low upper floor for growing koji; the Shoni Storehouse is a small single-storey shed. Nakasada Shoten Shosan Storehouse is the wide hall of vats. Read together, the three sizes and sections show how the stages of making miso and tamari were divided between buildings.

Visiting Nakasada Shoten Shosan Storehouse

Nakasada Shoten Shosan Storehouse is not open for unaccompanied entry. The site is a working brewery, and the interior is seen only on a guided visit booked ahead. Call Nakasada Shoten on 0569-72-0030, weekdays between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Same-day requests are not accepted and some dates cannot be taken.

The exterior can be viewed from inside the grounds and from the road in front. No official statement covers photography, so ask when you telephone, and confirm any charge at the same time, since fees and conditions can change.

The Daigo Storehouse on the same site is open as the Jozo Densho-kan brewing museum, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., admission free. The grounds close on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, the Obon period in August and the New Year period, and visits to Nakasada Shoten Shosan Storehouse follow that calendar. The site shop, Hongura, sells miso and tamari soy sauce, and there is parking for four cars and one coach.

From Taketoyo Station on the JR Taketoyo Line, follow the railway north and turn right: a walk of 4 minutes. Chita-Taketoyo Station on the Meitetsu Kowa Line lies 13 minutes away on foot. By car it is about 10 minutes from the Handa interchange on the Chita Peninsula Road, one exit beyond the Handa-Chuo interchange with which it is easily confused.