A Black-Lacquered Storehouse Hidden Inside a Sake Brewery
Behind the working brewery of Hinomaru Jozo, in the Masuda district of Yokote in southern Akita, stands a two-storey earthen storehouse finished entirely in black plaster. Families here call this kind of building an uchigura, an interior storehouse raised within the main house and sheltered beneath a second, larger roof called a saya. The Bunko-gura was built in 1908. It runs roughly 12 metres along its ridge and about 6.1 metres deep, and of all the buildings in the brewery compound, it is the one visitors come to see.
Masuda grew up as a merchant town where snow lies deep for much of the year. Wrapping a storehouse inside an outer shell kept the fine plaster and joinery clear of the weather, and it let owners lavish attention on interiors that few outsiders would ever enter.
Why It Was Registered
The Agency for Cultural Affairs added the Bunko-gura to the national register of tangible cultural properties in 2010, some years after the seven brewery buildings around it, which were registered in 2002. Its distinction lies in the finish. Polished black plaster covers the whole exterior. Inside, columns of Aomori hiba cypress rise from floor to ceiling at intervals of about 30 centimetres, their surfaces coated in lacquer and set against white plastered walls.
Storehouses of this type began as places to keep a household's valuables. In Masuda the merchants who built them went further, treating the interior as a room meant to be admired. The care given to this one reflects that intent.
What to Look For, and How to Visit
The ground floor is divided into a front and rear room, with an alcove set into the back. Delicate work survives in the transoms and paper screens. A floor repair in 2004 left the lacquered walls as they were. The upper floor, closed to the public, keeps its unpainted timber and a heavy roof frame built from zelkova.
To see the interior you need to book ahead. The brewery admits visitors to this storehouse for a small fee, while the sake-making buildings stay closed. A shop on the premises sells bottles you will not find elsewhere, among them the brewery's Mansaku no Hana label. If you have time, walk the Nakananukamachi street, where more than forty merchant houses and interior storehouses stand along about 400 metres.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Akita
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Hinomaru Brewery Headquarters Library
- [ Kakunodate Samurai District & Lake Tazawa Tours ]
Q&A
- Can I go inside the Bunko-gura?
- Yes, by reservation and for a small admission fee. The interior storehouse is open to visitors, while the brewery's sake-production buildings are not.
- What exactly is an uchigura?
- An interior storehouse built inside the main house and covered by an outer roof, a form particular to Masuda. The outer shell shielded the storehouse from the region's heavy snow.
- When was it built and registered?
- The storehouse was built in 1908 and added to the national register of tangible cultural properties in 2010.
- What else is worth seeing nearby?
- The Nakananukamachi street preserves scores of merchant houses and interior storehouses; many are open, some for a fee. The whole area is a nationally designated preservation district.
Basic Information
| Name | Hinomaru Jozo Honsha Bunko-gura (Document Storehouse) |
|---|---|
| Location | 109-1 Nanukamachi, Masuda, Masuda-machi, Yokote, Akita |
| Category | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Registered | 10 September 2010 |
| Structure | Earthen-walled, two storeys, iron-sheet roof; building area 190 sq m |
| Built | 1908 (Meiji 41) |
| Owner | Hinomaru Jozo Co., Ltd. |
| Access | Interior open to visitors by reservation, small fee; sake-production buildings closed |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties — Hinomaru Jozo Honsha Bunko-gura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008240
- Masuda Tourism Association — Townscape and Interior Storehouses
- https://masudakanko.com/uchigura/
- Hinomaru Jozo Co., Ltd. — Storehouse Visits and Brewery Shop
- https://hinomaru-sake.com/kurashop
Last verified: 2026.07.03