The Oldest Building on the Property
The Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Storehouse (宮醤油店店蔵, Miya Shōyu-ten Misegura) is a late Edo-period earthen storehouse, dated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs to between 1830 and 1867, at a soy sauce brewery in Sanuki, Futtsu City, Chiba Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2007.
It is the oldest of the nine registered buildings. The date range takes in 1834, the year the brewery was founded, but no record found so far ties the storehouse to the founding itself.
The storehouse adjoins the west end of the shop and faces the prefectural road. It is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri structure of 3 by 2 and a half bays, with a building area of 32 square metres. The gabled pantile roof sits on traditional Wagoya framing, and the earthen walls are sheathed in Shitami-itabari clapboard against the rain.
Why It Was Registered
The Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Storehouse was registered on 31 July 2007 as number 12-0074, for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency's notes describe it forming, with the shop and the Side Storehouse, a weighty street front.
A misegura was typically the storehouse a merchant built alongside the shop to hold stock, account books and valuables. Here it stands wall to wall with the sales building, so from the street the two read as one establishment. Timber shop flanked by earthen storehouses: that pairing is the backbone of the Miya frontage.
What to Look For
From the road, the Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Storehouse shows its gable end and a pair of double-leaf plastered doors (nurido) beneath a small protective roof. Packed with clay and plaster, doors like these were a fire barrier; closed, they become part of the wall.
Now walk to the other side of the shop and compare the Side Storehouse. Both are two-storey earthen storehouses, but the Side Storehouse, built in 1892, has single-leaf doors on both floors and a truss roof, while the Shop Storehouse keeps its double doors and Japanese-style framing. An Edo storehouse and a mid-Meiji one bracket the same shopfront.
Visiting
The Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Storehouse stands right on the road, so the exterior can be seen at any time. There is no published information on access to the interior; if you would like to look inside, ask at the shop next door. Directions, opening hours and brewery-tour arrangements are covered on the Miya Soy Sauce Store page.
Q&A
- When was the Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Storehouse built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the late Edo period, between 1830 and 1867. It is the oldest of the nine registered Miya buildings.
- Can you go inside the Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Storehouse?
- No interior access is advertised. The exterior can be seen freely from the road; ask at the adjoining shop if you would like to see more.
- What is a misegura, like the Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Storehouse?
- It is a storehouse a merchant built directly alongside the shop. This one adjoins the west side of the Miya shop and, with the shop and Side Storehouse, makes up the street front.
- What kind of cultural property is the Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Storehouse?
- It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registered on 31 July 2007 as number 12-0074.
- Where on the property is the Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Storehouse?
- At the western end of the street front, adjoining the west side of the shop.
Basic Information
| Name | Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Storehouse (宮醤油店店蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 247 Nishimasaishi, Sanuki, Futtsu City, Chiba Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2007/7/31 (Heisei 19) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 3 by 2 and a half bays; building area 32 square metres |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Exterior visible from the road; no interior access advertised |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Miya Shōyu-ten Misegura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00006515
- Chiba Prefectural Board of Education: Miya Shōyu-ten Tenpo and Other Buildings
- https://www.pref.chiba.lg.jp/kyouiku/bunkazai/bunkazai/q111-074.html
- Miya Shōyu-ten company profile and history
- https://www.miyashoyu.co.jp/profile.html
Last verified: 2026.09.26
