A Brewing Storehouse Still Holding Its Founding Casks
The Miya Soy Sauce Store West Storehouse (宮醤油店西蔵, Miya Shōyu-ten Nishigura) is a soy sauce brewing storehouse built in 1872 at a brewery in Sanuki, Futtsu City, Chiba Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2007.
It stands south of the Main House across a courtyard. The two-storey Dozo-zukuri building runs 10 and a half by 3 bays, with a building area of 115 square metres, under an east-west gabled pantile roof on traditional Wagoya framing. It is the largest of the nine registered buildings by footprint and, after the late Edo Shop Storehouse, the oldest.
Why It Was Registered
The Miya Soy Sauce Store West Storehouse was registered on 31 July 2007 as number 12-0078, for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs points to its size and to the white Shikkui lime plaster on its gable walls, which it says tightens up the whole western edge of the property.
Inside stand eight wooden casks, and according to the Agency six of them date from the brewery's founding in 1834. It is not only a building that survives here but the working equipment inside it.
What to Look For
In natural brewing, the microbes living in the walls, beams and vats are said to shape the flavour of the mash. The Futtsu City Tourist Association makes the same point, crediting the countless yeasts settled in Miya's wooden vats and earthen storehouses. With no machines to control temperature, even the thickness of the walls and the way air moves through the room become brewing conditions. Used for more than 150 years, the Miya Soy Sauce Store West Storehouse is part of the brewing equipment in its own right.
From outside, look for the white-plastered gables. Because the ridge runs east to west, the gables face east and west, and the western one gives the property a crisp edge.
Visiting
The Miya Soy Sauce Store West Storehouse stands deep inside the property and is not open on a regular basis. Free brewery tours (booking ahead preferred) show visitors the production floor, but which storehouses are included is not published, so ask when you arrange your visit. Directions, opening hours and brewery-tour arrangements are covered on the Miya Soy Sauce Store page.
Q&A
- Can you see inside the Miya Soy Sauce Store West Storehouse?
- It is not regularly open. The brewery offers free tours, but check when booking whether this storehouse is included.
- When was the Miya Soy Sauce Store West Storehouse built?
- In 1872. Of the nine registered buildings, only the late Edo Shop Storehouse is older.
- How old are the casks in the Miya Soy Sauce Store West Storehouse?
- According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, six of its eight wooden casks date from the brewery's founding in 1834.
- What kind of cultural property is the Miya Soy Sauce Store West Storehouse?
- It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registered on 31 July 2007 as number 12-0078.
- Where on the property is the Miya Soy Sauce Store West Storehouse?
- South of the Main House across a courtyard, with its white-plastered gable facing the western edge of the property.
Basic Information
| Name | Miya Soy Sauce Store West Storehouse (宮醤油店西蔵) |
|---|---|
| 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 | 10 and a half by 3 bays; building area 115 square metres |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Not regularly open; ask about brewery-tour coverage |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Miya Shōyu-ten Nishigura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00006521
- Chiba Prefectural Board of Education: Miya Shōyu-ten Tenpo and Other Buildings
- https://www.pref.chiba.lg.jp/kyouiku/bunkazai/bunkazai/q111-074.html
- Futtsu City Tourist Association: Miya Shōyu-ten
- https://www.futtsu-kanko.info/places/miyashoyu/
- Miya Shōyu-ten company profile and history
- https://www.miyashoyu.co.jp/profile.html
Last verified: 2026.09.26
