The Building That Faces the Road
Yoshino Sake Brewery Shop and Main House is a timber building of 1907 at Ueno in Katsuura City, Chiba Prefecture, entered on the national register as Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 18 April 2008.
It stands at the southwest of the compound, facing south, two storeys of timber frame with a single-storey wing pushed out at the rear. The building area is 299 square metres. The roof is a hipped yosemune form laid with sangawara pantiles, and a tiled pent roof runs round the walls below it.
Shop and dwelling sit under one roof. Part of the building still works as the brewery's sales counter, which makes Yoshino Sake Brewery Shop and Main House the only one of the ten registered items that customers actually walk into.
Registered for the Depth of Its Eaves
The listing criterion was contribution to the historic landscape of the nation. The Agency for Cultural Affairs picks out the deep second-storey eaves, framed in the degeta-zukuri manner, as the feature that gives the house its weight.
A corner position sounds modest for the principal building of a brewery. In practice it is what you see straight ahead through the gate, so Yoshino Sake Brewery Shop and Main House sets the first impression of the whole compound.
The date, 1907, is shared with the south storehouse standing behind it. House and outbuildings were evidently rebuilt within a few years of each other.
Two Entrances Across the Front
At the centre of the facade is a shikidai, the low boarded step used for receiving callers, and east of it a porch carrying its own irimoya roof. Paired entrances of this kind are common in merchant houses, one for trade and one for the household.
Inside, a doma of beaten earth fills the eastern side, while 4 rooms occupy the western half, among them a zashiki of 8 tatami mats. Goods were handled on the earth floor, guests received on the boards.
From outside, watch the shadows. The pent roof draws one line across the wall, and the second-storey eaves throw a deeper one above it. Those two projections are why the building reads as heavy rather than tall.
Visiting
The shop area of Yoshino Sake Brewery Shop and Main House can be entered during business hours. The living quarters are closed, and there is no arrangement for touring the interior.
The exterior is visible from inside the gate and from the road. To take in the whole front at once, stand on the south side of the road opposite the gate; that is the one point from which both projections line up.
Directions to the compound and the shop's opening hours are collected on the Yoshino Sake Brewery page. Since work goes on here, mention photography at the counter before using a camera on the premises.
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Q&A
- Can visitors go inside Yoshino Sake Brewery Shop and Main House?
- The shop area is open during business hours. The living quarters are closed and there is no interior tour.
- When was Yoshino Sake Brewery Shop and Main House built?
- In 1907, according to the Agency for Cultural Affairs database of nationally designated and registered cultural properties.
- How is Yoshino Sake Brewery Shop and Main House constructed?
- A timber frame of 2 storeys with a single-storey rear wing, 299 square metres in building area, under a hipped tiled roof.
- What should I look for at Yoshino Sake Brewery Shop and Main House?
- The deep second-storey eaves, the low boarded step at the centre of the facade, and the gabled-hipped porch beside it.
- Is Yoshino Sake Brewery Shop and Main House an Important Cultural Property?
- No. It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, entered on the register on 18 April 2008 under the registration system rather than the older designation system.
Basic Information
| Name | Yoshino Sake Brewery Shop and Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | 571 Koshigoe, Ueno, Katsuura City, Chiba Prefecture, and other locations |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2008/4/18 (Heisei 20) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber-framed, 2 storeys with a single-storey section, tile roof, building area 299 square metres |
| Owner | Yoshino Shuzo Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Shop area open during business hours; living quarters not open |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Yoshino Sake Brewery Shop and Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00007008
- Chiba Prefectural Board of Education: Yoshino Shuzo Tenpo ken Shuoku hoka
- https://www.pref.chiba.lg.jp/kyouiku/bunkazai/bunkazai/q111-057.html
- Yoshino Shuzo Co., Ltd., official site (Koshigoi)
- https://www.koshigoi.com
Last verified: 2026.09.17
