Registration Number One for Akita
Ryozeki Sake Brewery Main Building (両関酒造本館, Ryōzeki Shuzō Honkan) is a two-story timber office and residence at Ryozeki Sake Brewery in Maemori, Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture, built in 1923 and listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on December 20, 1996. Its registration number, 05-0001, is the first issued in Akita Prefecture.
The roof is clad in sheet iron and the building covers 215 square meters. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a product of the brewery's heyday. Of the five listed buildings at Ryozeki, which begin with the No. 1 Storehouse of 1892, the Main Building is the youngest.
An Office Under the Gable, a Home Along the Eaves
The Ryozeki Sake Brewery Main Building joins two parts with different jobs. The office sits under a large roof whose gable end faces the front, an arrangement called Tsumairi. The living quarters attached to it turn the other way, with the entrance on the long eaves side, or Hirairi. Yuzawa City reads this as design drawn from the traditional Machiya townhouse.
On the office gable, the timber roof frame is left exposed. It is Wagoya, the Japanese system of stacked horizontal beams and short posts, and the beams rise in visible tiers under the peak. The city singles out this layered framing, together with the fine lattice fitted to the windows, as the building's most attractive feature.
The logic is easy to read from the street. The office, the public face of the business, gets the big gable and the presence that comes with it. The family's rooms sit beside it under a roof turned ninety degrees, deliberately quieter.
Why the Main Building Was Registered
The building was registered as contributing to the historic landscape of the nation. In its note on the Ryozeki Sake Brewery Main Building, the Agency points to a design that conveys the standing of an established firm, and adds that the building has become a familiar symbol of Yuzawa as a sake town.
The prefix 05 in the registration number identifies Akita. When the registration system held its first round in 1996, the Main Building received Akita's number 1, and the brewery's No. 1 to No. 4 Storehouses followed as 05-0002 to 05-0005.
The national database lists the owner as Ryozeki Shuzo Co., Ltd. together with the name Yutaro Ito. The four storehouses carry only the company name.
What to Look for at the Main Building
Stand in front and look up at the office gable first. Inside the triangle of the roof, the beams of the frame are stacked in plain view, structure doubling as ornament, and this is the detail that gives the Ryozeki Main Building its character.
Then drop your eyes to the window lattice and follow the facade toward the residence. At the point where the gable roof gives way to the side-facing roof of the living quarters, the ridge turns through a right angle. That seam in the roofline marks where business ends and home begins.
Visiting the Ryozeki Sake Brewery Main Building
The Main Building still serves as the brewery's office and is not a public facility, so for most visitors it is an exterior to look at. The brewery runs a shop inside its premises on weekdays, but its notices do not say which part of the building the shop occupies.
Brewery tours, which take visitors inside, were suspended as of September 28, 2026. The brewery gives no guidance on photography, so ask before taking pictures on the premises. Shop hours and directions are on the Ryozeki Sake Brewery page.
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Q&A
- When was the Ryozeki Sake Brewery Main Building built?
- In 1923. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a building from the brewery's most prosperous years.
- Why is the Ryozeki Sake Brewery Main Building a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered on December 20, 1996 as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the nation. Its design reflects the standing of an old firm, and it has become a symbol of Yuzawa as a sake town.
- Is the Ryozeki Sake Brewery Main Building Akita's first registered cultural property?
- It holds registration number 05-0001, the first number issued in Akita Prefecture. It was registered in the first round of the system in 1996, together with the brewery's four storehouses.
- What are the architectural features of the Ryozeki Sake Brewery Main Building?
- The office sits under a large roof with its gable to the front, while the residence has its entrance on the eaves side. The office gable shows an exposed wagoya beam frame, and the windows carry fine lattice.
- Can visitors go inside the Ryozeki Sake Brewery Main Building?
- It is the brewery's working office, not a public facility. Brewery tours that go inside were suspended as of September 28, 2026.
Basic Information
| Name | Ryozeki Sake Brewery Main Building (両関酒造本館) |
|---|---|
| Location | 4-3-18 Maemori, Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registration no. 05-0001 |
| Year Designated | Registered December 20, 1996 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 2-story timber building, sheet-iron roof, building area 215 square meters |
| Owner | Ryozeki Shuzo Co., Ltd. (Yutaro Ito) |
| Public Access | Exterior only (brewery tours that go inside are currently suspended) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Ryozeki Sake Brewery Main Building
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00000011
- Cultural Heritage Online: Ryozeki Sake Brewery Main Building
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/137281
- Yuzawa City: Ryozeki Sake Brewery Main Building and Four Other Buildings (Japanese)
- https://www.city-yuzawa.jp/site/bunkazai/2212.html
- Ryozeki Shuzo Co., Ltd. official website (Japanese)
- https://www.ryozeki.co.jp/
Last verified: 2026.09.27
