Minakuchi Sake Brewery Store and Main Building

A Taisho Sake Merchant's House by Dogo Onsen

The Minakuchi Sake Brewery Store and Main Building (水口酒造店舗兼主屋, Minakuchi shuzō tenpo-ken-shuoku) is a sake brewer's combined shop and residence in Dogo Kitamachi, Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, whose frame was raised in 1917; it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on November 29, 2016. It stands near Dogo Onsen, facing north onto the street.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a two-storey wooden building with a tiled roof and a building area of 260 square metres; its registration number is 38-0114. Matsuyama City notes that it is privately owned, that it has served the same purpose since it was built, and that apart from some fittings its structural frame is unchanged.

Why It Was Registered

The Minakuchi Sake Brewery Store and Main Building was registered as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that its exterior, with exposed posts and tie beams, gives the street its character, and Matsuyama City calls it a fine example of a Taisho-era merchant house.

Its structure is of its time as well. According to the Agency and the city, the roof frame uses a Truss only directly above the large second-floor hall, with traditional Japanese roof framing everywhere else, a combination typical of Japanese-style houses of the Taisho era.

What to Look For

Outside, look at the plastered walls above board-clad lower panels, and at the round Western-style windows on the tall second floor. Matsuyama City says the building is full of the free spirit of the Taisho period.

Matsuyama City describes a ground floor with a large earthen-floored shop area, a counting desk, a raised step and an entrance (the national record places the earthen floor on the right, with the counter at the front of the raised floor). In the living quarters, a 6-mat room and an 8-mat reception room sit side by side; the reception room has verandas on two sides and a shoin desk alcove. The alcove post is of rosewood-like hitetsutōboku and the staggered shelves of tochi horse chestnut, prized timbers of the period.

Upstairs is a 24.5-mat hall with balustrades along the south and east sides overlooking the garden below (Matsuyama City). It is the only room roofed with a Western truss.

Visiting the Minakuchi Sake Brewery Store and Main Building

The Minakuchi Sake Brewery Store and Main Building is still a working sake brewer's premises. According to Ehime's official tourism site, Iyokan-net, the brewery tour (1,000 yen) includes a guided look at the registered main building, with contents varying by season. Opening hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closed on Sundays, public holidays and over the New Year (December 31 to January 3). Phone: 089-924-6616.

It is about a 5-minute walk from Dogo Onsen Station on the Iyotetsu line, with free parking for 10 cars (Iyokan-net). The exterior can be seen from the street; ask about photography on the tour.