A long storehouse of eighteen bays
The storage building of Sasa Masamune Shuzo stood on the south side of the grounds, alongside the moto-gura, a two-story mud-walled storehouse. Built in 1925, it covered about 263 square meters. Running north to south under a gabled tiled roof, it stretched eighteen bays in length, an unusually long building. Storage tanks lined the ground floor, a sign of the volume of sake this brewery handled.
A second floor built into snow-country brewing
The upper floor served as a place to dry straw mats and cloth, connected to the moto-gura by a covered passage. In the heavy snows of the Aizu-Kitakata region, where outdoor work is difficult in winter, the upper floors of storehouses and their linking passages did the drying and moving that could not happen outside. The storage building was woven into that snow-country working circuit. On 14 October 2021 it was registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property with the group of brewery buildings.
Lost in the fire of 2026
The fire of 1 June 2026 appears to have started near a koji room and spread from storehouse to storehouse along the lean-to and covered passages that joined them. The very structure that made the brewing circuit efficient, several buildings linked by corridors, also gave the flames a path. The storage building was one of the six registered cultural properties destroyed. Under Article 59, paragraph 3 of the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties, removal of its registration is expected.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Fukushima
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Sasa Masamune Sake Brewery Storage Facility
- [ Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle & Ouchi-juku Village Tours ]
Q&A
- How large was the storage building?
- It ran eighteen bays in length, a two-story mud-walled storehouse of about 263 square meters.
- What was the upper floor for?
- It was used to dry straw mats and cloth and was joined to the moto-gura by a covered passage, useful for winter work in a snowy region.
- When was it built?
- In 1925.
- Does it still exist?
- No. It was destroyed in the fire of 1 June 2026, one of six registered properties lost.
Basic Information
| Name | 笹正宗酒造貯蔵庫 (Sasa Masamune Shuzo) |
|---|---|
| Location | Kamisannomiya, Kitakata City, Fukushima Prefecture |
| Category | National Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Date registered | 14 October 2021 |
| Registration no. | 07-0266 |
| Date of construction | 大正14年 (1925) |
| Structure | 土蔵造2階建、瓦葺、建築面積263㎡ |
| 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/101/00013941
- 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