Where Brewing Began: the Washing Shed
Gyokusendo Sake Brewery Rice Washing Plant (玉泉堂酒造洗米所, Gyokusendō Shuzō Senmaijo) is a single-storey timber workshop built in 1926 in Takada, Yoro Town, Gifu Prefecture, and was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 25 April 2014. It was built for washing and steaming the rice, the first stage of brewing sake.
It stands behind the Shop and Main House, at the end of a lean-to off the north-west side of the North Brewhouse. A plain gabled (Kirizuma-zukuri) shed with a footprint of 22 square metres, it is the smallest of the brewery's seven registered buildings.
Why It Was Registered
The Rice Washing Plant was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs values it as a building that shows how sake was made. Brewhouses tend to get the attention; the humbler buildings for the preparatory stages rarely survive.
It dates from 1926, the same year as both brewhouses and the tax office. The whole production side, from washing the rice to taxing the finished sake, was put up together that year, and this shed was where the sequence began.
What to Look For
What shapes the building is what it lacks. The south and east sides have no walls at all. Brewing rice means a lot of water and clouds of steam, and the open sides were probably there to let both escape.
The roof is carried on a King post truss, a Western framing system with a central vertical post and diagonal struts that spans a room with less timber than a traditional Japanese roof frame. The South Brewhouse, built the same year, uses a traditional Wagoya frame with doubled tie beams to span its much wider hall. Western framing for the small workshop, Japanese framing for the big storehouse: a country brewery in 1926 seems to have chosen its structure to suit the job.
On the tie beam of that truss, a pulley with its belt still in place survives. It is most likely the remains of a belt drive that carried power from a motor to a machine, which would mean that parts of the washing or steaming were already mechanised when the shed was built. That small wheel is the thing to look for in the Gyokusendo Sake Brewery Rice Washing Plant.
According to the brewery's website, rice is now washed in a machine the company has adapted itself and soaked in batches of 10 kilograms. The equipment has changed; the care taken over washing has not.
Visiting
The Gyokusendo Sake Brewery Rice Washing Plant stands behind the main house, beside the brewhouses, and cannot be seen from the road. It is not open to visitors, and no chance to see the truss and pulley has been announced (checked 24 September 2026).
The site is a working brewery and cannot be entered.
Directions and visiting conditions for the brewery as a whole are on the Gyokusendo Sake Brewery page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Gifu
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Q&A
- What was the Gyokusendo Sake Brewery Rice Washing Plant used for?
- Washing and steaming rice, the first stage of the brewing process.
- When was the Gyokusendo Sake Brewery Rice Washing Plant built?
- In 1926, the same year as the North and South Brewhouses and the Inspection Office and Tax Office.
- What is special about the Gyokusendo Sake Brewery Rice Washing Plant?
- Its south and east sides are open, and a belt pulley survives on the tie beam of its king post truss.
- Can visitors see the Gyokusendo Sake Brewery Rice Washing Plant?
- No. It is inside the working brewery, out of sight of the road, and not open to the public.
- When was the Gyokusendo Sake Brewery Rice Washing Plant registered?
- On 25 April 2014, as registration no. 21-0229, on the same day as the brewery's other six buildings.
Basic Information
| Name | Gyokusendo Sake Brewery Rice Washing Plant (Gyokusendō Shuzō Senmaijo) |
|---|---|
| Location | 126 Takada Aza-Machi, Yoro-cho, Yoro-gun, Gifu Prefecture, and other lots |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registration no. 21-0229 |
| Year Designated | Registered 2014/4/25 (Heisei 26) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, single storey, gabled, tiled roof, building area 22 square metres |
| Owner | Gyokusendo Shuzo Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Closed (inside the premises, not visible from the road) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs database: Gyokusendo Sake Brewery Rice Washing Plant
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00009964
- Gifu Prefecture: Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Buildings)
- https://www.pref.gifu.lg.jp/page/12417.html
- Gyokusendo Shuzo official website
- https://www.gyokusendo.jp/
Last verified: 2026.09.24
