What Is the Ishimago Honten No. 5 Storehouse?
The Ishimago Honten No. 5 Storehouse (石孫本店５号蔵, Ishimago Honten Gogōgura) is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri brewing storehouse built in 1916 in Iwasaki, Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture, and was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on December 11, 1998. It stands at the south end of the row of four storehouses facing the road at the Ishimago Honten miso and soy sauce brewery, next to the No. 4 Storehouse. It covers 165 square meters under a sheet-metal roof.
It is the newest of the registered storehouses at Ishimago Honten and the only one from the Taisho era. Its Munafuda, or ridge tablet, gives the date and names the master carpenter Saito Hikoemon and the client, the second Ishikawa Magozaemon. Counting from the Inner Storehouse of 1883, it closed out 33 years of the same carpenter building for the same brewery.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a storehouse for fermenting mash, where miso and soy sauce are set in wooden vats to age.
Why the No. 5 Storehouse Was Registered
The Ishimago Honten No. 5 Storehouse was registered as a model of good design. The agency's description notes its Western-style roof truss, then ends with a remark on the whole row: five storehouses lined up along the road, it says, create a distinctive streetscape. The appraisal of the ensemble sits in the entry for the building at its end.
In terms of roof framing, this storehouse marks where the carpenter arrived. Hikoemon built the No. 3 Storehouse in 1897 and the No. 4 Storehouse in 1900 with a traditional Wagoya frame, changed to trusses with the No. 1 Storehouse in 1904, and kept to them through the No. 2 Storehouse of 1910 and the No. 5 Storehouse of 1916. Yuzawa City values the group as a record of one carpenter's methods changing across the Meiji and Taisho eras, and the No. 5 Storehouse shows the last stage of that record.
Its footprint matches the Meiji-era storehouses. At 165 square meters it is the same size as the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 Storehouses, so even in the Taisho era Hikoemon held the row to a single scale.
What to Look For
Because the Ishimago Honten No. 5 Storehouse is at the south end, it is the nearest building when you look up the row from the south. From there the No. 4, No. 3 and No. 2 Storehouses follow in near-identical sizes. This is the best place to take in the streetscape the agency singled out.
The row the agency described as five buildings became four in 2011, when the No. 1 Storehouse at the north end collapsed. The praise recorded in the No. 5 Storehouse's entry now belongs to a row of four.
Visiting the No. 5 Storehouse
The exterior of the Ishimago Honten No. 5 Storehouse can be seen from the road in front of the shop. It is the southernmost storehouse in the row of four.
The only way inside is the brewery's reserved tour, which follows the miso and soy sauce process past the wooden vats in the aging storehouses. The buildings it enters are not published, so ask when booking whether the No. 5 Storehouse is included (checked September 24, 2026). Tours are not accepted on some days, depending on the brewing schedule.
Rules on photography inside are not stated. Directions, fees and booking are covered on the Ishimago Honten page.
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Q&A
- When was the Ishimago Honten No. 5 Storehouse built?
- In 1916, according to its ridge tablet. It is the newest registered storehouse at Ishimago Honten and the only one from the Taisho era.
- What is the Ishimago Honten No. 5 Storehouse used for?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a storehouse for fermenting mash, where miso and soy sauce are set to age.
- What roof frame does the Ishimago Honten No. 5 Storehouse use?
- A Western-style truss. The same carpenter adopted it with the No. 1 Storehouse of 1904, and the No. 5 Storehouse is the last example.
- Where is the best spot to see the Ishimago Honten No. 5 Storehouse?
- From the south end of the row. Looking north, the No. 5 through No. 2 Storehouses line up in matching sizes along the road.
- Can I go inside the Ishimago Honten No. 5 Storehouse?
- Only on the reserved tour, and which storehouses it enters is not published, so ask when booking (checked September 24, 2026).
Basic Information
| Name | Ishimago Honten No. 5 Storehouse (石孫本店５号蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 162 Iwasaki, Iwasaki, Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building), No. 05-0040 |
| Year Designated | Registered December 11, 1998 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Dozo-zukuri, 2 storeys, sheet-metal roof, building area 165 square meters |
| Owner | Ishimago Honten Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Exterior visible from the road. Interior on reserved tours only (confirm whether this storehouse is included) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Ishimago Honten No. 5 Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00000938
- Ishimago Honten No. 5 Storehouse (Cultural Heritage Online)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/136708
- Ishimago Honten Uchigura and Four Other Buildings (Yuzawa City Cultural Properties)
- https://www.city-yuzawa.jp/site/bunkazai/2215.html
- Company History (Ishimago Honten)
- https://ishimago.jp/rekishi.htm
- Tour (Ishimago Honten)
- https://ishimago.jp/tour/
Last verified: 2026.09.24
