Five Sawtooth Roofs in Stone
The Former Soga Textile Mill (旧曽我織物工場, Kyū-Soga Orimono Kōjō) is a single-storey weaving shed in Honchō 1-chōme, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture, built in 1922 and entered on the national register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 2 March 2006.
Kiryu built its wealth on silk. The saying that Kiryu is Japan's loom country is old enough to appear in the prefecture's traditional karuta card game, and the physical evidence is still on the ground: rows of workshops crowned with sawtooth roofs, their glazed north faces angled to catch even, shadowless daylight for work that depends on judging colour and thread. Kiryu once had hundreds. A number still stand, mostly in brick or timber.
This one is stone, and that is the point. Only nine stone sawtooth mills survive in the whole city, and inside the Kiryu Shinmachi Preservation District covering Honchō 1-chōme and 2-chōme, the Soga mill is the only one.
The Family, the Loom Count, and the Building
The Soga family did not begin in textiles. Soga Sukematsu, born in Kashima District in Ishikawa Prefecture, came to Kiryu in 1894 and apprenticed himself to a raw-silk dealer. He made his money speculating on the thread market and bought the present site with its buildings in 1917. When his son Kiichirō married in 1922, the family put up a new weaving shed to mark the occasion. Everyone called it the new mill.
Business peaked in the early 1930s. Then the war closed in: under the industrial control order of 1943, every loom in the building was requisitioned. Production restarted after the surrender with two looms borrowed from Kiryu Technical High School, and by 1951 the shed held twenty-six and still could not keep pace with orders, forcing work out to subcontractors. Weaving stopped around 1970. The building was used afterwards as a factory and warehouse by other local firms.
The construction is worth reading closely. The frame is timber, clad and carried in stone, a hybrid the Agency for Cultural Affairs records as mokkotsu sekizō. Walls are built of Ōya stone, the soft volcanic tuff quarried in Tochigi Prefecture, dressed and laid in even courses. The shed runs eight bays along its length, and five sawtooth bays span it at twenty shaku each, roughly six metres. The roof ridges run east to west, so the glazing faces the constant northern light. Doors and windows are spanned by stone lintels and hung with double iron leaves. On the west gable, a circular vent opening breaks the wall.
Later work replaced the roof covering with sheet metal and the joinery with aluminium sash. The roof trusses above remain timber.
Seeing It, and What Lies Around It
Be clear on this before you plan a visit: the interior is not open. The mill is private property and can be viewed from outside only. Kiryu City has stated that active reuse of the building is under consideration, but no public opening exists at present. Photographing from the street is fine; the surrounding land belongs to the Soga family and should not be entered.
Even from outside, the material tells you a great deal. Ōya stone weathers to a warm grey flecked with darker inclusions, and the coursing joints catch low sun in a way brick never does. Walk to the western end for the round vent. The five roof peaks read most clearly from an oblique angle rather than head on.
The mill sits within a plot that preserves the town plan of old Kiryu: roughly 23 metres of frontage on the street, running back about 90 metres. The Soga family residence occupies the northern edge of the same plot, with the main house, storehouse and new drawing room lined up from east to west, a small Inari shrine near the centre of the garden and a pair of stone gateposts on the street. These are separately registered.
Kiryu Shinmachi itself was laid out in 1591 on the orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu, executed by Ōno Hachiemon, an agent of the intendant Ōkubo Nagayasu, taking Kiryu Tenmangū shrine as its northern anchor. The district became the ninety-fourth Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings in Japan when it was selected in 2012, and in April 2015 the whole area was included among the component properties of the Japan Heritage story "Kakaa Denka: the Silk Tale of Gunma."
Practically: the mill stands about 300 metres south of Kiryu Tenmangū, set back west off the main street. From JR Kiryu Station or Nishi-Kiryu Station on the Jōmō Electric Railway, walk north along Honchō-dōri. There is no parking in the preservation district, so use one of the paid car parks in the town centre. Rental bicycles are available locally and suit the long straight axis of the old town. Many buildings here are lived in, so keep to the street.
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Q&A
- Can you go inside the Former Soga Textile Mill in Kiryu?
- No. The building is private and the interior is closed to the public. It can be viewed from the street only. Kiryu City has indicated that future reuse is being considered, but no public access is currently offered.
- What makes the Former Soga Textile Mill different from Kiryu's other sawtooth mills?
- Its walls are built of Ōya stone. Only nine stone sawtooth mills survive in Kiryu, and within the Kiryu Shinmachi Preservation District covering Honchō 1-chōme and 2-chōme, this is the only one. Most other surviving examples are brick or timber.
- Where exactly is the Former Soga Textile Mill and how do you get there?
- It is in Honchō 1-chōme, Kiryu City, about 300 metres south of Kiryu Tenmangū shrine and set back west from the main street. Walk north along Honchō-dōri from JR Kiryu Station or from Nishi-Kiryu Station on the Jōmō Electric Railway. There is no parking within the preservation district.
- Why does the Former Soga Textile Mill have a sawtooth roof?
- The glazed faces of a sawtooth roof are angled north, admitting steady daylight without direct sun. Weaving and dyeing require accurate colour judgement, so the shape spread through textile districts. Here the ridges run east to west, with five bays of about six metres each.
- When did the Former Soga Textile Mill stop producing cloth?
- Weaving ceased around 1970. All looms had been requisitioned under wartime industrial controls in 1943; production resumed after the war with two borrowed looms and had grown back to twenty-six by 1951. The building later served as a factory and warehouse for other local companies.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Soga Textile Mill (旧曽我織物工場) |
|---|---|
| Location | Honchō 1-chōme kō 225-1, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registration no. 10-0152 |
| Year Designated | Registered 2 March 2006; gazetted 23 March 2006 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber-framed stone construction, single storey, sheet-metal roof; floor area 550 m². Eight bays long, five sawtooth spans of 20 shaku |
| Owner | Private; not published in the Agency for Cultural Affairs record |
| Public Access | Exterior viewing only. Interior closed to the public |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Former Soga Textile Mill
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00005248
- Cultural Heritage Online — Former Soga Textile Mill
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/181466
- Kiryu City — Former Soga Textile Mill and Soga Family Residence
- https://www.city.kiryu.lg.jp/kankou/bunkazai/1010700/kunitouroku/1002006.html
- Kiryu City — Outline of the Kiryu Shinmachi Preservation District
- https://www.city.kiryu.lg.jp/kankou/spot/denken/about/1003081.html
- Japan Heritage Portal — Kiryu Shinmachi Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings
- https://japan-heritage.bunka.go.jp/ja/culturalproperties/result/252/
Last verified: 2026.08.08