A Storehouse Dated to 1919
The Nambu Shuzojo Former Sake Brewery Great Storehouse (南部酒造場旧酒蔵大蔵, also romanised Nanbu Shuzōjō Kyū-sakagura Ōgura) is a two-storey earthen-walled brewing store of 1919 in Motomachi, Ono City, Fukui Prefecture, registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) on 20 November 2001. Of the five registered buildings on the brewery's lot, it is the only one the Agency for Cultural Affairs dates to a single year rather than to a period.
That precision matters, because 1919 was a particular moment for this house. The company's own chronology places the seventh head of the family, Shuzo, travelling to established brewing districts around Japan in that year to study technique, and returning with results at national competitions. A new brewing hall going up in the same year is not proof of a connection, and the sources do not draw one, but the two entries sit close enough together to be worth noticing.
The building stands south of the Front Storehouse, with its ridge turned at right angles to it, running east and west. It is described as a gabled structure with a pantile roof, two storeys, entrances on the side facing the Front Storehouse and again on the west face. Building area is 152 square metres, which makes it slightly larger in footprint than its northern neighbour.
The Face Toward Yonban-dori
The east gable end is where the design effort went. Its lower storey is finished in sasarako shitami, horizontal boarding held by notched vertical battens, and above that the wall is white lime plaster. Wooden hozue, angled struts, run beneath the eaves, and short panels flank the windows on either side. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the result as an elevation of varied composition presented toward Yonban-dori.
Two points follow from that description. First, this is a public face on a working building. A brewery storehouse has no functional need for a composed facade; it is given one because the street sees it. Second, the wooden braces here separate this building from the Front Storehouse next door, where the equivalent members are iron. Two storehouses on one lot, built a generation apart, solved the same detail in different materials, and both solutions were kept.
Registration number 18-0019, thirty-first round, criterion of contribution to the historic landscape of the country. The shop, Front Storehouse, West Storehouse and Rice Storehouse were listed on the same day under the four adjacent numbers.
The prefix kyu, former, in the registered name reflects a later change of plant. The company records a reinforced concrete brewhouse completed in 1963, after which these older halls no longer carried the main production. Ono itself had thinned out by then; local accounts describe a town that once held several dozen breweries and by the postwar decades retained four.
How to See It
The east gable is the reason to walk around the block rather than stopping at the shopfront. Approach along Yonban-dori and the composed elevation is what faces you, boarded below, white above, with the eaves braces reading as a row of dark diagonals. Overcast light suits it better than direct sun, which flattens the boarding.
Interior access is another matter. This is a private brewery building and no regular tour is advertised. Visitors should not enter the yard. The Hanagaki retail shop occupies the registered shop building at the north end of the same lot and is open to anyone during business hours, normally 9:00 to 17:00, generally closed Wednesdays with exceptions for holidays and busy months, and from 31 December to 5 January. Staff there are the right people to ask about anything on site.
Photography from the public street is unrestricted; ask before photographing inside the shop.
JR Echizen-Ono Station on the Etsumi-Hoku Line is about ten minutes on foot, and the Motomachi car park is close by. Through 2026, Shichiken-dori is being resurfaced and the morning market usually held along it has been relocated to the Jokamachi Higashi open space from 1 June until late October.
Ono rewards a slow circuit. The grid of the castle town was laid out from about 1576 under Kanamori Nagachika, six streets running north to south and six east to west, and walking two sides of this single block gives a clear sense of how a merchant plot filled up over three centuries.
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Q&A
- When was the Nambu Shuzojo Former Sake Brewery Great Storehouse built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to 1919, the eighth year of Taisho. It is the only one of the five registered buildings on this lot given a specific year rather than a broad period.
- Can visitors enter the Nambu Shuzojo Former Sake Brewery Great Storehouse?
- No regular interior access is offered. It is a private brewery building. The east gable end can be viewed from Yonban-dori, and the Hanagaki retail shop on the same lot welcomes visitors during business hours.
- What is distinctive about the exterior of the Nambu Shuzojo Former Sake Brewery Great Storehouse?
- The east gable end combines board siding on the lower storey with white lime plaster above, wooden angled struts under the eaves, and short panels beside the windows. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes this as a varied elevation turned toward Yonban-dori.
- How does the Nambu Shuzojo Former Sake Brewery Great Storehouse relate to the Front Storehouse?
- The Great Storehouse stands south of the Front Storehouse with its ridge at right angles, running east to west against the other's north to south. It also uses wooden eaves braces where the Front Storehouse uses iron ones.
- What are the recorded dimensions of the Nambu Shuzojo Former Sake Brewery Great Storehouse?
- One building, earthen-walled construction, two storeys, tile roof, with a building area of 152 square metres. Entrances open on the side facing the Front Storehouse and on the west face.
- Is the Nambu Shuzojo Former Sake Brewery Great Storehouse still used for brewing?
- Its registered name carries the word "former," reflecting a shift of production to newer plant; the company records a reinforced concrete brewhouse completed in 1963. Current internal use is not published, and visitors should treat the building as private.
Basic Information
| Name | Nambu Shuzojo Former Sake Brewery Great Storehouse (南部酒造場旧酒蔵大蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | Motomachi 6-9 to 6-10, Ono City, Fukui Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure); registration number 18-0019; criterion: contribution to the historic landscape of the country |
| Year Designated | Registered 20 November 2001; public notice 4 December 2001 (31st round) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Earthen-walled construction, two storeys, tile roof; building area 152 square metres; east-west ridge, gabled with pantiles; built 1919 |
| Owner | Nambu Shuzojo Co., Ltd. (private; the Agency for Cultural Affairs database leaves the owner field unpublished) |
| Public Access | Interior closed to the public. East gable end visible from Yonban-dori. The Hanagaki retail shop on the same lot is open 9:00 to 17:00, generally closed Wednesdays and 31 December to 5 January. |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs — National Cultural Properties Database: Nambu Shuzojo Former Sake Brewery Great Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00002538
- Agency for Cultural Affairs — National Cultural Properties Database: Nambu Shuzojo Shop
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00002536
- Hanagaki (Nambu Shuzojo) — Company History
- https://www.hanagaki.co.jp/about/history
- Echizen Ono Tourism Guide — Nambu Shuzojo (Hanagaki)
- https://www.ono-kankou.jp/spot/南部酒造場（花垣）/
- Ono City — Temporary Relocation of the Shichiken Morning Market
- https://www.city.ono.fukui.jp/kanko/kanko-joho/kanko_oyakudati/sangyo00120260521.html
Last verified: 2026.08.05