Kokuryu Sake Brewery Store and Main House

What Is the Kokuryu Sake Brewery Store and Main House?

The Kokuryu Sake Brewery Store and Main House (黒龍酒造店舗兼主屋, Kokuryū Shuzō Tenpo-ken-shuoku) is an early Showa period shop and residence of a sake brewer in Matsuoka Kasuga, Eiheiji-cho, Fukui Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on July 25, 2011.

It is a large Machiya townhouse facing south onto Honmachi Street and forms the public face of the brewery's head office. The shop section is still in use as the Ishidaya Main Store, the brewery's own outlet, and Ishidaya describes this main house as the oldest building Kokuryu owns.

A Townhouse 15 Meters Wide

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Kokuryu Sake Brewery Store and Main House measures 15 m across the front and 12 m deep. It has a gabled roof of pantiles, with a lean-to Geya along both the front and the back, and covers a building area of 195 m².

The sources disagree on how many storeys to count. The structure field in the agency database says single-storey wooden building, while the commentary on the same page calls it a Tsushi-nikai 2-storey house, meaning the upper level is a low attic space used for storage. The structure field probably leaves that low upper level out of the count, but the sources themselves do not settle which description is meant.

The registration criterion is that the building contributes to the historic landscape of the country. The agency calls it a large townhouse with real presence. What is valued is the long street front itself and the part it plays along Honmachi Street.

A Front Built from Lattice and Black Plaster

The facade of the Kokuryu Sake Brewery Store and Main House is organized around its entrance. On the ground floor, a flat lattice and a projecting Degōshi lattice window flank the doorway. Above, a band of heavy lattice runs across the central six bays, and only the two end bays are finished in black Shikkui plaster.

Small projecting side walls, Udatsu, complete the front. Flat and projecting lattices below, heavy lattice above, black walls and udatsu at the edges: together they divide up a front 15 m wide. Stand on the far side of the street and compare the thickness of the lower and upper lattices.

Visiting the Kokuryu Sake Brewery Store and Main House

Because the shop section of the Kokuryu Sake Brewery Store and Main House operates as the Ishidaya Main Store, customers can step inside during opening hours. There is no announcement of public access to the residential rooms or the inner reception rooms, and the brewery does not run tours. Opening days and directions are on the Kokuryu Sake Brewery page.

For the whole facade, look from across Honmachi Street. The east gate, registered on the same day, stands toward the east end of the front, with the annex behind it. No photography policy is published, so ask the staff before taking pictures inside the shop.