Suzuki Family Residence (Nishimachi, Kamogawa)

A Sake Brewer's Compound Behind the Coast Road

The Suzuki Family Residence in Nishimachi, Kamogawa (鈴木家住宅, Suzuki-ke Jūtaku) is the compound of a sake-brewing family in Nishimachi, Kamogawa City, Chiba Prefecture, where five buildings, ranging from an early Meiji-era main house to an annex and stone storehouse of around 1923, were registered together as Registered Tangible Cultural Property on February 14, 2002. The five are the Main House, the Annex, the Stone Storehouse, the Hiire Storehouse and the Granary.

According to the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education, the family is said to go back to the Genroku era (1688 to 1704) and has brewed sake since the Meiji era. The compound sits a little back from the old road that runs parallel to the Tōjō coast. A farmhouse-style main house forms its core, surrounded by brewery storehouses and a residential wing added in the Taishō era.

The buildings span half a century: the Main House from the early Meiji era, the Hiire Storehouse and Granary from late Meiji, and the Annex and Stone Storehouse from around 1923. Local tradition credits a local master carpenter, Ishii Masakichi, with the Annex and the Stone Storehouse, and the stone building is said to have gone up on either side of the Great Kantō Earthquake.

How the Compound Is Laid Out

The thatched Main House is the center of everything. The Annex is attached at its northwest corner, and the Stone Storehouse closes the west end of the Annex veranda. These three domestic buildings are grouped on the west side of the site.

The brewery buildings stand to the east. The Hiire Storehouse sits southeast of the Main House near the gate on the eastern boundary, and the Granary stands north of it across the path to the east gate. One held rice for brewing and the other stored finished sake, and the two face each other across the path, giving the compound the look of a working brewery.

• Main House: early Meiji era, timber, single storey, thatched, 126 square metres
• Annex: around 1923, timber, single storey, tiled, 66 square metres
• Stone Storehouse: around 1923, Ōya stone, single storey, tiled, 13 square metres
• Hiire Storehouse: late Meiji era, earthen storehouse, single storey, tiled, 121 square metres
• Granary: late Meiji era, earthen storehouse, 2 storeys, tiled, 99 square metres

Getting There and What You Can See

The Suzuki Family Residence is privately owned and not open to the public. The grounds are closed and there are no interior viewings. Because the buildings stand back from the old road, only a limited view is possible from the street.

The nearest station is Awa-Kamogawa, served by the JR Sotobō and Uchibō lines; allow about 20 minutes on foot from the east exit. Keep clear of the family's entrance and take photographs only from the road. What each building looks like from outside is described on its own page.