Jokyu Soy Sauce Front Zashiki: An Early Meiji Reception Building in the Brewery's Southwest Corner
The Jokyu Soy Sauce Front Zashiki (ジョーキュウ醤油表座敷, Jōkyū Shōyu Omote-zashiki) is a two-storey reception building of the early Meiji era (1868 to 1882) in Daimyo 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 26, 2015. Its registration number is 40-0119.
A zashiki is a tatami-matted formal room, and here the word names a whole building given over to such rooms. It stands in the southwest corner of the site, built of timber on two floors under a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles, with a building area of 44 square meters. The early Showa Rear Zashiki adjoins it to the north, so the front and rear parlor buildings line the west side of the site.
Rooms and Alcove of the Jokyu Soy Sauce Front Zashiki
The Jokyu Soy Sauce Front Zashiki has Geya, lean-to roofs, added on its south and north sides, and these form its verandas. Each floor holds two tatami rooms. On the ground floor the south room of eight mats is the main room and carries the formal Zashiki-kazari alcove fittings.
The north room upstairs has a Kōran railing along its window. A railed upper room is a signal, visible from outside, that this was a room for guests.
The plan is simple, two rooms on each floor, with the main room placed on the south side of the ground floor. Opening the rooms to verandas on both south and north lets in sun and air.
History and Registration of the Jokyu Soy Sauce Front Zashiki
According to the company, the Jokyu Soy Sauce Front Zashiki is said to have lodged government troops during the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. That fits its early Meiji date, but no source other than the company's own account was found for how it came to be used this way.
It was registered as a structure that contributes to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it a reception building of good quality set in one corner of the brewery.
Among the storehouses of a working brewery, the business put up a separate two-storey building just for receiving guests. It shows how much weight a soy sauce merchant in the castle town placed on hosting clients and partners.
Seeing the Jokyu Soy Sauce Front Zashiki
There is no notice of the interior, or of the alcove in the main room, being open to the public.
From outside, look for the verandas under the lean-to roofs on the south and north and for the railing at the upper window. Beside the Rear Zashiki to the north, you can compare two parlor buildings put up about half a century apart, one in the early Meiji era and one in the early Showa era.
Ask at the retail shop how far you may go on the site and whether you may take photographs. Directions and the visiting conditions shared by all six structures are on the Jokyu Soy Sauce page.
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- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Jokyu Soy Sauce Front Zashiki
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Q&A
- What is the Jokyu Soy Sauce Front Zashiki?
- It is an early Meiji two-storey timber reception building in the southwest corner of the Jokyu Soy Sauce site. Each floor has two tatami rooms, and the eight-mat south room on the ground floor is the main room with a formal alcove.
- When was the Jokyu Soy Sauce Front Zashiki built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the early Meiji era, 1868 to 1882.
- Is the Jokyu Soy Sauce Front Zashiki connected with the Satsuma Rebellion?
- According to the company, it is said to have lodged government troops during the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877.
- When was the Jokyu Soy Sauce Front Zashiki registered as a cultural property?
- It was entered on the register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 26, 2015, under registration number 40-0119.
- Can visitors go inside the Jokyu Soy Sauce Front Zashiki?
- There is no notice of the interior being open to the public. Ask at the retail shop whether the site can be viewed and how much of it you may see.
Basic Information
| Name | Jokyu Soy Sauce Front Zashiki (ジョーキュウ醤油表座敷) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-330-1 Daimyo, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registration no. 40-0119 |
| Year Designated | Registered March 26, 2015 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, two storeys, tiled roof, building area 44 square meters |
| Owner | JOKYU Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | No announced public opening of the interior (ask at the retail shop about viewing on site) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Jokyu Shoyu Omote-zashiki
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010527
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Jokyu Shoyu Ura-zashiki
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010528
- Cultural Heritage Online: Jokyu Shoyu Omote-zashiki
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/211557
- JOKYU: Registered Tangible Cultural Properties
- https://www.jokyu.co.jp/history/property/index.html
Last verified: 2026.09.30
