Aramasa Sake Brewery Former Kannonko West Granary

A Husked-Rice Granary with a Sheltered West Door

Aramasa Sake Brewery Former Kannonko West Granary (新政酒造旧感恩講西籾蔵, Nishi Momigura) is a single-storey earthen-walled granary from the late Meiji period (1898 to 1912) on the grounds of Aramasa Sake Brewery in Omachi, Akita City, and it was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on April 25, 2014.

A momigura holds momi, rice still in its husk. Aramasa Sake Brewery Former Kannonko West Granary was built for the Kannonkō, a relief society for the poor, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs says that together with the East Granary and Rice Storehouse it keeps the society's history visible.

A Narrow Storehouse 25 Meters Long

Aramasa Sake Brewery Former Kannonko West Granary stands toward the west end of the brewery's northern boundary, its ridge running east to west. It measures 25 meters by 6.7 meters, with a footprint of 166 square meters, nearly four times as long as it is deep.

The gabled pantile roof is of the Okiyane type, carried on its own supports above the earthen walls. The lime-plaster walls are ringed by a drip ledge and a Hachimaki band, and short diagonal braces, hōzue, hold up the eaves.

The doorway is in the west gable under a small Hisashi canopy. The East Granary and Rice Storehouse has its door in its east gable, so the two Kannonkō buildings on the northern edge open away from each other. The canopy on Aramasa Sake Brewery Former Kannonko West Granary would have sheltered the work of moving grain in and out from rain and snow.

Why Aramasa Sake Brewery Former Kannonko West Granary Was Registered

Aramasa Sake Brewery Former Kannonko West Granary carries registration number 05-0204, the last of the brewery's five consecutive numbers, and was listed for contributing to the historic landscape of the country.

The Kannonkō was founded in 1829 by Naba Saburoemon Yūsei, a merchant of the castle town of Kubota, and Akita City counts it among the earliest social welfare bodies in Japan. A late-Meiji date for Aramasa Sake Brewery Former Kannonko West Granary suggests the society was still putting up granaries decades after the Meiji Restoration. When the granary passed to the brewery is not recorded in the agency's description.

Seeing Aramasa Sake Brewery Former Kannonko West Granary

Aramasa Sake Brewery Former Kannonko West Granary stands inside the working brewery and its interior is not open. Its place on the northwest part of the northern boundary is known, but it could not be confirmed that it is visible from outside the grounds.

If it is in view, look for the canopied west door and the diagonal braces under the eaves. Take photographs only from the public road and keep clear of brewery work and vehicles.