A long white wall running north from the shop
Masaki Honten Storage Warehouse (正木本店貯蔵庫, Masaki Honten Chozoko) is a late Taishō era brewery building in the town of Matsuno, Kitauwa District, Ehime Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 27 October 2017. Built between about 1919 and 1926, it is a timber structure of one storey with a partial second storey under a tiled roof, with a floor area of 266 square meters. It adjoins the shop building on the old Matsumaru road and runs back from it, away from the street.
The plan holds a constant width of four Ken, roughly 7 meters, while the length changes register: a single-storey section of eleven and a half ken, about 21 meters, followed by a two-storey section of four ken, about 7 meters. Both carry Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roofs finished in Sangawara-buki pantiles. End to end the building approaches 30 meters, and that ratio of narrow to long governs how it reads from outside.
The walls are Shikkui plaster above a boarded wainscot, punctuated at intervals by lattice windows sealed in plaster. Sealing the timber under a plaster skin gave fire resistance without giving up daylight. What passers-by see along the lane is this run of white wall and small openings, and among the five buildings on the site Masaki Honten Storage Warehouse presents the longest continuous face to public view.
Steel inside a timber storehouse
The interior is a single undivided room, and its roof structure is carried on steel beams. The 1920s were the decade when domestic steelmaking and structural fabrication spread through Japan, first into urban factories and warehouses. Finding the same material in a country brewery, in a valley in the mountains of western Shikoku, says something about how quickly it travelled.
The advantage of the steel beam is a clear span. Casks and vessels could be moved across an unobstructed floor with no line of posts in the way. Achieving the same span in timber alone would have required heavier members or a more elaborate assembly.
Masaki Honten Storage Warehouse was entered on the register under one criterion, that it contributes to the historic landscape of the country, with register number 38-118 in the 88th round. The criterion speaks to the street elevation, but the steel overhead records something else: a rural brewing business adopting industrial materials at the moment they became available.
Reading the wall
Look at the elevation in two bands. The boarded lower zone takes the splash of rain off the ground; the plastered upper zone runs unbroken above it. The line where board meets plaster gives the long wall a horizontal discipline that keeps it from feeling monotonous.
The plastered lattice windows are not evenly spaced. They sit where they were needed, so following their positions gives a rough reading of how the interior was used. Where the single-storey section meets the two-storey section, the roof steps up.
West of Masaki Honten Storage Warehouse the boiler room abuts the wall, and beyond it the brewing warehouse crosses at right angles. The five buildings were registered separately, but on the ground they lean into one another and form a single working circuit across the plot.
Visiting
Masaki Honten Storage Warehouse is privately owned. No interior opening is announced by the town of Matsuno or by Ehime Prefecture, so a visit means viewing the exterior from the former Matsumaru Kaidō and the lanes around the site. Please do not enter the grounds.
Photographing the building from the public road is not restricted. Because the building is long and narrow, a three quarter angle works better than a square-on shot; from an oblique position the depth of the wall comes through.
The nearest station is Matsumaru on the JR Yodo Line, about three minutes on foot to the north. Find the shop building facing the old road, and this warehouse is the volume extending behind it. Drivers should use National Route 381 and park near the station rather than entering the narrow old road. For questions, contact Matsuno Town Hall's Furusato Sōsei Section on 0895-42-1116.
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Q&A
- Can visitors go inside Masaki Honten Storage Warehouse?
- No interior opening is announced by the town or the prefecture. The building is privately owned, so viewing is limited to the exterior from public roads. Please stay off the grounds.
- How big is Masaki Honten Storage Warehouse?
- The floor area is 266 square meters. It is four ken wide, about 7 meters, with a single-storey section of eleven and a half ken and a two-storey section of four ken, giving an overall length of close to 30 meters.
- What is unusual about the structure of Masaki Honten Storage Warehouse?
- The roof is carried on steel beams over a single undivided room. Steel gave a clear span without intermediate posts, and it was still a new material for a rural brewery in the 1920s.
- When was Masaki Honten Storage Warehouse built and registered?
- It dates from the late Taishō era, about 1919 to 1926. It became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 27 October 2017, with register number 38-118.
- How do I get to Masaki Honten Storage Warehouse?
- Walk north from Matsumaru Station on the JR Yodo Line for about three minutes. The warehouse stands directly behind the shop and main house that face the former Matsumaru Kaidō.
Basic Information
| Name | Masaki Honten Storage Warehouse (正木本店貯蔵庫) |
|---|---|
| Location | 86 Matsumaru, Matsuno-cho, Kitauwa-gun, Ehime Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered on 27 October 2017 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, single storey with a partial 2-storey section, tiled roof, floor area 266 square meters |
| Owner | Not published in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database |
| Public Access | Interior closed. Exterior visible from public roads |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Masaki Honten Storage Warehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00012067
- Cultural Heritage Online, Masaki Honten Storage Warehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/245788
- Minutes of the 183rd Cultural Properties Subdivision, Council for Cultural Affairs, 21 July 2017
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkashingikai/bunkazai/17/pdf/r1395986_04.pdf
- The former Matsumaru Kaido (Matsuno Town Hall, Furusato Sosei Section)
- https://www.town.matsuno.ehime.jp/soshiki/3/1263.html
- List of Registered Cultural Properties in Ehime (Ehime Prefectural Board of Education)
- https://ehime-c.esnet.ed.jp/bunkazai/kennobunkazai/tourokubunkazai/bun-touroku2.htm
Last verified: 2026.09.05