The Largest Storehouse in a Working Brewery
Set near the middle of the Hinomaru Jozo compound in Masuda, in the city of Yokote, the Chuo-gura stands directly behind the street-facing shop. At about 24 metres along its ridge it is the biggest building the brewery owns, and it still does the job it was built for, holding stock for a sake maker whose roots in this town reach back to 1689. The walls are earthen, closely studded with posts and finished in white plaster, under a gabled roof of iron sheeting laid on an east-west ridge.
Why the Building Matters
Registered as a tangible cultural property in 2002, the Chuo-gura belongs to a group of brewery buildings that together preserve the working fabric of a Meiji-era sake maker. Its roof frame uses two kinds of beam, some raised on short struts and some resting without them, an arrangement it shares with the smaller Minami-gura elsewhere on the site. Reading the two storehouses side by side shows how a single carpenter's vocabulary was scaled up and down across a compound built in stages.
The building dates from the early Meiji era, when Masuda was growing rich on trade and its merchants were raising storehouses of exactly this kind behind their shops.
Seeing It in Context
The Chuo-gura is part of the sake-production side of the brewery and is not open to visitors. What you can do is take in the compound from the street and then visit the parts of Masuda that are open. The brewery's Bunko-gura, its ornamental interior storehouse, is shown by reservation for a small fee, and the direct-sales shop carries the Mansaku no Hana range. Along the Nakananukamachi street, dozens more merchant houses and storehouses stand within a short walk.
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- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Hinomaru Brewery Headquarters Central Brewery
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Q&A
- Is the Chuo-gura open to the public?
- No. It is a working part of the brewery and is closed to visitors. The brewery's Bunko-gura is the storehouse open for tours.
- What is it used for?
- Storage. It is the largest building on the site, still serving the brewery as a storehouse.
- How old is it?
- It was built in the early Meiji era and registered as a tangible cultural property in 2002.
- What can I actually visit here?
- The Bunko-gura by reservation, the on-site sales shop, and the wider preservation district along the old street.
Basic Information
| Name | Hinomaru Jozo Honsha Chuo-gura (Central Storehouse) |
|---|---|
| Location | 114-2 Nanukamachi, Masuda-machi, Yokote, Akita |
| Category | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Registered | 14 February 2002 |
| Structure | Earthen-walled, single storey, iron-sheet roof; building area 172 sq m |
| Built | Early Meiji era |
| Owner | Hinomaru Jozo Co., Ltd. |
| Access | Not open to the public (working brewery building) |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties — Hinomaru Jozo Honsha Chuo-gura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002593
- Masuda Tourism Association — Townscape and Interior Storehouses
- https://masudakanko.com/uchigura/
- Hinomaru Jozo Co., Ltd. — Official Site
- https://hinomaru-sake.com/
Last verified: 2026.07.03