The smallest of the eleven
Saiya Sake Brewery Bottle Storehouse (斎彌酒造店壜蔵) is a single-storey earthen-walled storehouse of about 1902 in the Ishiwaki district of Yurihonjo City, Akita Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 1998.
At 17 square metres it is the smallest of the eleven registered structures on the plot. The roof is tiled. It stands west of the shop, in line with the former rice storehouse, now the gallery, and the pickle storehouse.
A bingura holds bottles. Through the Meiji and Taishō eras a growing share of sake left breweries in glass rather than in casks or measured out by volume, and that created a need to keep empties and finished bottles somewhere. The modest size of Saiya Sake Brewery Bottle Storehouse marks a stage when that function had not yet grown large.
Holding the property line
Registration as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property came on 2 September 1998, number 05-0019, on the ground of contribution to the historic character of the landscape.
What the national record chooses to describe at length here is not the storehouse but the shed that covers it. That shed encloses three storehouses. Its flanks are simply boarded. The gable ends get different treatment: horizontal boarding below, lime plaster worked in above, so that the end wall reads as an earthen storehouse.
The reason lies in where it stands. The shed runs along the property boundary facing the road, and it is the gable end that meets the street. The face people see was finished carefully; the flanks nobody sees were boarded and left. There is a clear order of priorities in the workmanship, and the tightening effect this corner has on the whole compound follows from it.
Two different corners
Walk the length of the road and the south face of the compound resolves into two contrasting ends. The southwest is the covering shed that holds Saiya Sake Brewery Bottle Storehouse and its neighbours, long and low. The southeast is the two-storey document storehouse, standing alone with height. One skin over three buildings on one side, a single tall building on the other, with the main house and the gate ranged between them.
Go close to the gable wall of the shed. The line where the materials change is drawn sharply. Below it, lapped boards throw a series of small shadows; above, plaster returns the light. The craft of making something that is not a storehouse look like one survives right there.
Seventeen square metres is a small rectangle on a plan. It was registered anyway, because the value of this building lies in being one piece of an assembled compound rather than a complete object in itself.
Visiting
Saiya Sake Brewery Bottle Storehouse lies inside a working brewery and the interior is closed. With the tours of Saiya Shuzōten suspended, viewing means the exterior of the covering shed from the public road. Since the gable end of that shed faces the street, its detailing is easy to study. Photography within the grounds requires the company's permission.
Hakkōkōji Taya, run by the brewery, stands opposite and opens 10:00 to 17:00, closed Thursdays and Sundays. Its gallery shows video of the brewery to visitors who apply in advance. Looking at the shed in front of Saiya Sake Brewery Bottle Storehouse and then crossing over makes sense.
From Ugo-Honjō Station on the JR Uetsu Main Line it is about 1.5 kilometres north across the Koyoshi River, roughly 20 minutes on foot. The city loop bus stops at Okeyachō. Enquiries go to Saiya Shuzōten on 0184-22-0536.
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Q&A
- How large is Saiya Sake Brewery Bottle Storehouse?
- Seventeen square metres on a single storey, which makes it the smallest of the eleven registered structures on the site.
- What was kept in Saiya Sake Brewery Bottle Storehouse?
- Bottles. As sake increasingly left breweries in glass during the Meiji and Taishō eras, space was needed for empties and for finished bottled stock.
- What is the covering shed at Saiya Sake Brewery Bottle Storehouse like?
- It encloses three storehouses. The flanks are plainly boarded, but the gable ends facing the road have boarding below and lime plaster above, finished to look like an earthen storehouse.
- When was Saiya Sake Brewery Bottle Storehouse registered?
- On 2 September 1998, registration number 05-0019. The building itself dates from about 1902.
- Can Saiya Sake Brewery Bottle Storehouse be visited?
- The interior is closed and brewery tours are suspended. The covering shed can be seen from the road, and because its gable faces the street the detailing is visible.
Basic Information
| Name | Saiya Sake Brewery Bottle Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 53 Ishiwaki, Ishiwaki, Yurihonjo City, Akita Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | 1998 (Heisei 10) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey earthen-walled storehouse, floor area 17 square metres |
| Owner | Saiya Shuzoten Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Exterior visible from the public road, interior closed |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Saiya Shuzoten Bottle Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00000613
- Yurihonjo City: Saiya Shuzoten
- https://www.city.yurihonjo.lg.jp/1001503/1002098/1002113/1002126/1003557.html
- Yurihonjo City Board of Education: Saiya Shuzoten (PDF)
- https://www.city.yurihonjo.lg.jp/_res/projects/default_project/_page_/001/003/557/1003557_002.pdf
- Yurihonjo City: Nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Properties
- https://www.city.yurihonjo.lg.jp/1001503/1002098/1002113/1002126/1003565.html
- Hakkokoji Taya, operated by Saiya Shuzoten Co., Ltd.
- https://hakkokoji-taya.jp/
Last verified: 2026.09.08