What the Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery Moromi Storehouse Is
The Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery Moromi Storehouse (ヤマモ味噌醤油醸造元諸味蔵, Moromi-gura) is a single-storey Dozo-zukuri brewing storehouse built between 1912 and 1918, in the early Taisho era, in the northeast corner of a miso and soy sauce brewery in Iwasaki, Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture, and became Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 3 December 2024. Soy sauce ferments and matures here. It covers 205 square metres, has a sheet-metal roof and was altered in the middle Showa years.
Moromi is the fermenting mash that sits in the vat between the start of a batch and pressing; squeeze soy sauce moromi and what runs out is raw soy sauce. The process begun in the brewing storehouse carries on here, slowly.
Akita's fermentation tourism guide describes the Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery Moromi Storehouse as the northernmost building on the site, where fermentation and ageing can proceed at low temperatures. Putting the ageing room at the cold back of the plot reads as a choice in favour of steady temperatures.
Why It Was Listed
It was listed for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs values the interior lined with large soy sauce vats as a scene of traditional brewing that has survived to the present.
The storehouse is gabled, in Kirizuma-zukuri form, and entered from the gable end, Tsumairi. Its walls are rendered in mortar, with only the hachimaki band under the eaves finished in Shikkui lime plaster. The doorways open towards the brewing storehouse and the workshop, so the route that ingredients and product take between buildings is written into the plan.
The floor is earth, Doma, and the roof is a Wagoya frame of heavy beams. With no upper floor, the large vats stand directly in one open room.
What to Look For
The heart of the Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery Moromi Storehouse is its row of cedar vats. According to the fermentation tourism guide there are 24, some larger than the doorway. Those were assembled inside the storehouse by a cooper the brewery once kept on its own staff. A vat that cannot pass through the door is proof that building and equipment were made to work as one.
Above the vats, the heavy beams of the roof frame cover the row. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database holds a photograph of the whole structure.
Outside, find the northeast corner, where the junction of mortar wall and plaster band is clearest. The database has a photograph of that corner too.
Visiting
You can enter the Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery Moromi Storehouse on the brewery's factory tour, whose published route includes it; on the courses with a meal, food and drink are paired here (checked 25 September 2026). All must be booked by the day before.
This is a working storehouse, so visitors are asked not to eat natto on the morning of the tour. Photography is generally allowed, though some spots are off limits. Tucked into the northeast corner, the building cannot be seen from the old Ushu Kaido.
Directions to the site and the general conditions for visiting are set out on the Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Akita
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery Moromi Storehouse
- [ Kakunodate Samurai District & Lake Tazawa Tours ]
Q&A
- When was the Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery Moromi Storehouse built?
- In the early Taisho era, between 1912 and 1918, with alterations in the middle Showa years.
- What happens in the Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery Moromi Storehouse?
- Soy sauce ferments and matures. It is the northernmost building on the site, where the mash can be kept at low temperatures.
- How many vats are in the Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery Moromi Storehouse?
- Akita's fermentation tourism guide counts 24 cedar vats. Those larger than the doorway are said to have been assembled inside by the brewery's own cooper.
- Can I go inside the Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery Moromi Storehouse?
- Yes, on the brewery's factory tour, booked by the day before (checked 25 September 2026).
- Why is the Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery Moromi Storehouse a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was listed for its contribution to the historic landscape; its interior of large soy sauce vats preserves a scene of traditional brewing.
Basic Information
| Name | Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery Moromi Storehouse (ヤマモ味噌醤油醸造元諸味蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 124 Iwasaki, Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), register no. 05-0256 |
| Year Designated | Registered 2024/12/03 (Reiwa 6) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Dozo-zukuri, single storey, sheet-metal roof, building area 205 square metres |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Interior on the factory tour (booking required). Not visible from the street. |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery Moromi Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00015128
- Agency for Cultural Affairs: Council for Cultural Affairs recommendations, 19 July 2024
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/koho_hodo_oshirase/hodohappyo/pdf/94084201_01.pdf
- Yuzawa City: Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery Shop and Main House and seven other buildings
- https://www.city-yuzawa.jp/site/bunkazai/6175.html
- Cultural Heritage Online: Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery Moromi Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/594872
- YAMAMO / TAKAMO & Corp.: Restaurant and Tour
- https://yamamo1867.com/plan/
- Akita Fermentation Tourism: Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery
- https://hakko.akita-kenmin.jp/kamoshidokoro/424
Last verified: 2026.09.25
