Jokyu Soy Sauce Chimney: A 1915 Brick Chimney Cut to Half Its Height by an Earthquake
The Jokyu Soy Sauce Chimney (ジョーキュウ醤油煙突, Jōkyū Shōyu Entotsu) is a brick chimney built in 1915 in Daimyo 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, and entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 26, 2015. Its registration number is 40-0125.
It stands at the soy sauce heating area in the southeast of the site. Today it is 9.5 meters tall with an area of 2.5 square meters. Of the six registered structures at Jokyu Soy Sauce, the Jokyu Soy Sauce Chimney is the only one that is not a building, and it is counted as one structure rather than one building.
How the Jokyu Soy Sauce Chimney Is Built
The base is an octagon measuring 67 centimeters on each side, with a footing that steps out twice. The shaft is laid in English bond, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs records the tradition that the Araki Ceramics works of Kurume built it.
English bond alternates a course showing the long sides of the bricks with a course showing their ends. Up close, the stripes run neatly around each of the eight faces.
Hiire, or heating, is the stage in which freshly pressed raw soy sauce is heated to settle its color and aroma and help it keep. The chimney most likely carried away smoke from the fires under the heating kettles.
History and Registration of the Jokyu Soy Sauce Chimney
The company history says the Jokyu Soy Sauce Chimney was built 19 meters tall in 1915. The Fukuoka Prefecture Western Offshore Earthquake of 2005 brought down its upper part, leaving the present 9.5 meters, and the Agency's database gives its date as 1915 with repairs in 2005.
It was registered as a structure that has become a model of form, the only one of the six at Jokyu registered on that ground. The Agency notes that although the earthquake cut its height, it keeps its value as the emblem of the brewery.
The earthquake took away roughly half of it. The decision to repair the stump rather than pull it down is what kept it standing to be registered.
Seeing the Jokyu Soy Sauce Chimney
It stands in the southeast of the site, so ask at the retail shop how much of the grounds you may see.
If you can get close, look at the bottom first: the footing that steps out twice, the octagonal plan and the striped courses of English bond on each face. When you look up at 9.5 meters, picture the Jokyu Soy Sauce Chimney at twice that height, as it stood until 2005.
Published sources say nothing about photography, so ask in the shop first. Directions and the visiting conditions shared by all six structures are on the Jokyu Soy Sauce page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Fukuoka
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Jokyu Soy Sauce Chimney
- [ Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine & Hakata Food Tours ]
Q&A
- When was the Jokyu Soy Sauce Chimney built?
- It was built in 1915. According to the company history, it was originally 19 meters tall.
- Why is the Jokyu Soy Sauce Chimney shorter today?
- Its upper part collapsed in the Fukuoka Prefecture Western Offshore Earthquake of 2005. After repairs it now stands 9.5 meters high.
- How is the Jokyu Soy Sauce Chimney constructed?
- The base is octagonal, 67 centimeters on each side, with a footing stepped out twice, and the shaft is laid in English bond. By tradition it was built by the Araki Ceramics works of Kurume.
- When was the Jokyu Soy Sauce Chimney registered as a cultural property?
- It was entered on the register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 26, 2015, under registration number 40-0125, as a structure that has become a model of form.
- Can visitors see the Jokyu Soy Sauce Chimney?
- It stands in the southeast of the brewery site; ask at the retail shop how much of the grounds you may see and whether photographs are allowed.
Basic Information
| Name | Jokyu Soy Sauce Chimney (ジョーキュウ醤油煙突) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-330-4 Daimyo, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registration no. 40-0125 |
| Year Designated | Registered March 26, 2015 |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | Brick, height 9.5 meters, area 2.5 square meters |
| Owner | JOKYU Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Ask at the retail shop about viewing on site |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Jokyu Shoyu Entotsu
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010533
- Cultural Heritage Online: Jokyu Shoyu Entotsu
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/278393
- JOKYU: Registered Tangible Cultural Properties
- https://www.jokyu.co.jp/history/property/index.html
- JOKYU: Company History
- https://www.jokyu.co.jp/history/index.html
Last verified: 2026.09.30
