From rice store to exhibition room
Saiya Sake Brewery Gallery (Former Rice Storehouse) (斎彌酒造店ギャラリー（旧米蔵）) 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. It was built to hold the rice from which sake is made.
The floor area is 90 square metres under a tiled roof. It stands west of the shop, between the bottle storehouse and the pickle storehouse. The three are separate buildings, yet they sit side by side inside a single covering shed, so what the street sees is the shed rather than the storehouses themselves.
For a brewery, rice is the material that decides the quality of the product, and it has to be kept away from damp, vermin and fire. Spending money on the rice store was the same as protecting the business. Today the interior has been converted and the building serves as Saiya Sake Brewery Gallery.
What the carved lintel tells you
Registration as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property came on 2 September 1998, number 05-0017, the second number issued on this plot after the main house.
National records describe this as the most richly built of the storehouses here, and the reason given is the decoration worked into the lintel above its pair of earthen doors. A lintel is a horizontal member spanning a doorway, structurally a plain piece of carpentry whose job is to carry the load over the opening. Decorating it means somebody expected this doorway to be looked at.
The Tomae, the doorway zone of an earthen storehouse, is conventionally where whatever ornament a storehouse gets is concentrated. Saiya Sake Brewery Gallery follows that convention and then goes further than its immediate neighbours. It was registered for contributing to the historic character of the landscape, and the record calls it a principal element of the compound.
Inside and outside the covering shed
This corner of the site behaves oddly. From the road you see the shed that wraps all three storehouses; neither the walls nor the roof of Saiya Sake Brewery Gallery is directly visible. Building a second structure over a storehouse to keep rain and snow off it is a solution that turns up now and then in heavy-snow districts.
The shed is boarded on its flanks. On the gable ends the lower part is clad in horizontal boards and the upper part rendered in lime plaster, which makes the shed itself look like an earthen storehouse. Three real storehouses, wrapped in a skin that also wears the face of a storehouse. The doubling is itself worth stopping for.
Conversion to a gallery has kept the building in use rather than in retirement. The thick walls and low light that once protected rice work perfectly well for hanging and displaying objects.
Visiting
Saiya Sake Brewery Gallery stands inside a working brewery. The interior has been fitted out as a gallery, but with the brewery tours of Saiya Shuzōten currently suspended it cannot be entered by the general public, and viewing means looking at the covering shed from the road. Whether access resumes is best confirmed with the company.
Across the street the same company runs Hakkōkōji Taya, open 10:00 to 17:00 and closed Thursdays and Sundays. Its own gallery, Yuki no Bosha club, screens video of the brewery interior for visitors who apply in advance, which is currently the way to see what the inside of these storehouses looks like.
From Ugo-Honjō Station on the JR Uetsu Main Line, walk north across the Koyoshi River about 1.5 kilometres, some 20 minutes. The city loop bus stops at Okeyachō. Enquiries go to Saiya Shuzōten on 0184-22-0536. Photographs from the public road are fine; photography inside the grounds needs permission.
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Q&A
- What was Saiya Sake Brewery Gallery originally used for?
- It was the rice storehouse, holding the raw material for sake brewing. The interior was later converted for use as a gallery.
- Can visitors enter Saiya Sake Brewery Gallery (Former Rice Storehouse)?
- Not at present, because the brewery's tours are suspended. Video of the brewery is shown at the gallery of Hakkōkōji Taya across the road, by prior application.
- What makes Saiya Sake Brewery Gallery unusual among the storehouses?
- The decoration on the lintel above its pair of earthen doors. National records single it out as the most richly built storehouse on the site and a principal element of the compound.
- Where does Saiya Sake Brewery Gallery stand on the site?
- West of the shop, between the bottle storehouse and the pickle storehouse. All three sit inside one covering shed, so the street sees the shed rather than the storehouses.
- When was Saiya Sake Brewery Gallery registered?
- On 2 September 1998 under registration number 05-0017. The building dates from about 1902.
Basic Information
| Name | Saiya Sake Brewery Gallery (Former Rice 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 90 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 Gallery (Former Rice Storehouse)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00000611
- 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
- Hakkokoji Taya: Gallery (operated by Saiya Shuzoten Co., Ltd.)
- https://hakkokoji-taya.jp/gallery/
- Saiya Shuzoten Co., Ltd.: About the brewery
- https://www.yukinobosha.jp/aboutus/
Last verified: 2026.09.08