The storehouse where the mash was prepared
The shikomi-gura, or preparation storehouse, of Sasa Masamune Shuzo stood on the eastern side of the grounds, a single-story dozo (mud-walled storehouse) running north to south. Built around 1917, it covered roughly 208 square meters under a gabled tiled roof. Inside, a queen-post truss opened up a wide span and a high eaves line so that rows of brewing tanks could stand beneath it. Shikomi is the stage at which steamed rice, koji, and water are combined into the main mash, and this building was the heart of that work.
One link in a chain of brewing buildings
The storehouse did not stand alone. Lean-to passages tied it to the moto-gura and the pressing house, so that the successive stages of brewing flowed from one building to the next. As the brewery grew in the modern era, the wide span and tall eaves were a practical answer to the need for more tanks. On 14 October 2021 it was registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property along with the shop-residence and the other storehouses. Together the buildings showed how a sake brewer in the Aizu-Kitakata region arranged its plant to make sake.
Lost in the fire of 2026
On the morning of 1 June 2026 a fire broke out at the brewery. It appears to have started near a building once used as a koji room and spread from one storehouse to the next. About 2,943 square meters burned, and six of the site's eight registered cultural properties were destroyed. The shikomi-gura was among the six. Under Article 59, paragraph 3 of the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties, registered buildings lost to fire are expected to have their registration removed. What is written here is a record of a building that no longer stands.
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Q&A
- What was the shikomi-gura used for?
- It housed the shikomi stage, in which steamed rice, koji, and water are combined into the main mash. Brewing tanks stood in rows under its wide span.
- When was it built?
- Around 1917. It was a single-story mud-walled storehouse of about 208 square meters.
- How was it connected to the other buildings?
- Lean-to passages linked it to the moto-gura and the pressing house so the brewing stages ran in sequence.
- Does it still exist?
- No. It was destroyed in the fire of 1 June 2026, one of six registered properties lost that day.
Basic Information
| Name | 笹正宗酒造仕込蔵 (Sasa Masamune Shuzo) |
|---|---|
| Location | Kamisannomiya, Kitakata City, Fukushima Prefecture |
| Category | National Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Date registered | 14 October 2021 |
| Registration no. | 07-0264 |
| Date of construction | 大正6年頃 (1917) |
| Structure | 土蔵造平屋建、瓦葺、建築面積208㎡ |
| Owner | Sasa Masamune Shuzo Co., Ltd. |
| Present status | Destroyed in the fire of 1 June 2026; removal of registration anticipated |
| Access | Grounds under post-fire reconstruction; not open to the public |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs — National Cultural Properties Database (Sasa Masamune Shuzo)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00013939
- Sasa Masamune Shuzo Co., Ltd. — Company profile
- https://www.sasamasamune.com/company.html
- Fukushima Minyu — Fire at the Sasa Masamune brewery, 1 June 2026
- https://www.minyu-net.com/news/detail/2026060113102350523
- Fukushima Minpo — Cultural properties and brewing equipment lost to fire
- https://www.minpo.jp/articles/-/146364
- Fukushima Minyu — Brewery to rebuild, one month after the fire
- https://www.minyu-net.com/news/detail/2026070108272151729
Last verified: 2026.07.04