Aoki Ranjado

About Aoki Ranjado

Aoki Ranjado (青木蘭麝堂, Aoki Ranjadō) is the family estate and workshop of a maker of medicinal liquor in Wakisanga-cho, Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture, where a sake storehouse whose middle section dates from 1800, a reception room and a small two-storey annex were registered together as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2020. The family spells its name Aoki Ranjyado in English.

The estate sits at the foot of a low hill on the eastern side of the city, its grounds opening to the south. It lies in the old Togo area, a short distance from Ichijodani, the valley where the Asakura clan kept their castle town in the sixteenth century. According to the family, the Aokis have lived here since the Asakura era; their own chronology places the invention of the liquor in 1552 and the start of its sale as a business around 1851. Both dates are family tradition rather than documented fact.

The drink is called Ranjashu. Its name is said to borrow from Ranjatai, a celebrated piece of aloeswood kept in the Shosoin treasure house at Todaiji in Nara. The liquor is made from glutinous rice the family grows in Togo, steeped with more than ten kinds of herbal ingredients and left to mature, and the recipe is passed to a single heir in each generation. The family also records that in 1891 it received a written endorsement from Iwasa Jun, physician to the Meiji Emperor.

The Three Registered Buildings of Aoki Ranjado

All three buildings at Aoki Ranjado were registered on 3 April 2020 under consecutive numbers, 18-0199 to 18-0201. The new zashiki was listed as a model of architectural design; the annex and the sake storehouse were listed for their contribution to the historic landscape. The national database gives the following dates and sizes.

• Aoki Ranjado Sake Storehouse: 1800, extended in the late Meiji era and altered around 1962. Two-storey Dozo-zukuri plastered storehouse with a tiled roof, 218 m² in area
• Aoki Ranjado New Zashiki: early Meiji era (1868 to 1882), altered in the early Showa era and in 1969. Single-storey timber building with a metal roof, 22 m²
• Aoki Ranjado Annex: 1918. Two-storey timber building with a metal roof, 15 m²

Together the three span roughly 120 years. The brewing storehouse came first, and quiet rooms for looking at the garden were added in the Meiji and Taisho eras. The main house, which is not registered, sits at the hinge between them.

Fukui City has also designated the garden and two large trees on the estate, a zelkova and a camphor tree, as municipal cultural properties. The city lists the garden as late Edo in date and 632 square meters in extent: a stroll garden built around a winding pond and laid with stepping stones. The zelkova is recorded at 18 meters tall with a trunk girth of 6.9 meters, and the camphor tree at 24 meters.

How the Aoki Ranjado Estate Is Laid Out

The main house stands toward the north of the Aoki Ranjado grounds and faces south. The Aoki Ranjado Sake Storehouse extends from its east side and takes up the center of the site: an east-west middle storehouse joins the house, a north-south storehouse adjoins it to the east, and a lean-to runs along the south of both. This is where the liquor is made.

Two rooms for entertaining are attached to the north side of the house. The Aoki Ranjado New Zashiki, on the east, was built for viewing the garden to the east. The Aoki Ranjado Annex stands to its west, joined to the house at its southeast corner; its upper room looks out over the garden to the southwest and helps frame a courtyard in the northwest corner of the estate.

From the front, then, a visitor sees the house and the storehouse. The two garden rooms are tucked behind, turned toward the green. Each building has its own page with details of its construction.

Visiting Aoki Ranjado

Aoki Ranjado still brews and sells Ranjashu on the premises. The official website gives the shop hours as 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., open every day; the Fukui City tourism site says it closes on irregular days. The family invites people visiting the Ichijodani Asakura Family Historic Ruins to stop by, but it does not publish whether the garden and the reception rooms can be viewed, or whether there is a charge. Because this is a family home and a working brewery, call ahead (0776-41-0078) if you hope to see more than the shop, and ask about photography at the same time.

By train, take the JR Etsumi-Hoku Line from Fukui Station to Ichijodani Station, about 15 minutes, then walk about 20 minutes. By bus, take the Keifuku Bus Ichijodani-Togo Line from stop 5 at the west exit of Fukui Station to the Ichijodani Asakura Mizu no Eki roadside station, about 20 minutes, then walk about 4 minutes. By car, it is about 10 minutes east from the Fukui Interchange of the Hokuriku Expressway along National Route 158. There is parking, but not for large coaches (checked October 2026).