A Meiji Shopfront Still Open for Business
The Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Building (宮醤油店店舗, Miya Shōyu-ten Tenpo) is the two-storey timber sales building of a soy sauce brewery in Sanuki, Futtsu City, Chiba Prefecture, built in 1892 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2007.
It holds the centre of the brewery's street front, facing north onto a prefectural road with the Shop Storehouse to the west and the Side Storehouse to the east. It measures 5 by 3 bays, with a building area of 60 square metres, under a gabled roof of interlocking pantiles (Kirizuma-zukuri, Sangawara-buki). The long side faces the street, an arrangement known as Hirairi.
The company's own history dates it precisely: the new shop was finished in January 1892 and opened with a celebratory sale. More than 130 years on, the Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Building still does exactly the same job.
Why It Was Registered
The Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Building was registered on 31 July 2007 as number 12-0073, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out its sturdy, careful construction and the weight it gives the street.
Sliding doors fill the ground-floor front, and a row of lattice windows runs along the upper floor. The upper eaves are built in the Degeta-zukuri manner, with beams cantilevered out on brackets to carry a deep overhang. The boards that cap those beam ends are carved with curling ornamental mouldings (e-yō kurikata), the kind of flourish a merchant family paid for to show its standing.
Then there are the agedo, front shutters that are hoisted up out of the way by day and lowered to close the shop at night. The Agency's record makes a point of noting that the ones here are still in use.
What to Look For
Start on the far side of the road to take in the whole front, then cross over and look up. The carved beam-end caps sit in a neat row just under the upper eaves.
Read the building together with its neighbours. The storehouses on either side both turn their gables to the road behind heavy plastered doors, so the timber Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Building is framed by earthen walls. That three-part front is the landscape the registration refers to.
Inside, the shelves hold the brewery's range. The Tokusen grade is blended from mash aged through two summers, and Kazusa Murasaki is a limited bottling pressed from the best of the previous year's mash.
Visiting
The Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Building is a working shop, so you can walk in during business hours with no admission charge. The exterior can be viewed freely from the road, and both the eave carvings and the shutters are easy to see from in front of the shop.
Please ask before taking photographs inside, so as not to get in the way of customers or staff. Directions, opening hours and brewery-tour arrangements are covered on the Miya Soy Sauce Store page.
Q&A
- Can you go inside the Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Building?
- Yes. It is a working soy sauce shop, open to anyone during business hours, with no admission fee.
- When was the Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Building built?
- In 1892. The company history records that the new shop was completed that January and opened with a celebratory sale.
- What architectural details should I look for at the Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Building?
- The projecting-beam eaves on the upper floor, the carved caps on the beam ends, and the lift-up agedo shutters on the ground floor, which are still in daily use.
- What kind of cultural property is the Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Building?
- It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registered on 31 July 2007 as number 12-0073. Eight other buildings on the same property were registered the same day.
- Where on the property is the Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Building?
- At the centre of the street front on the north side, facing the prefectural road, with the Shop Storehouse to the west, the Side Storehouse to the east and the Main House directly behind it.
Basic Information
| Name | Miya Soy Sauce Store Shop Building (宮醤油店店舗) |
|---|---|
| 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 | 5 by 3 bays; building area 60 square metres |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Open as a working shop during business hours |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Miya Shōyu-ten Tenpo
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00006514
- 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
- Miya Shōyu-ten product information
- https://www.miyashoyu.co.jp/products.html
Last verified: 2026.09.26
