About Shoda Shoyu
Shoda Shoyu (正田醤油) is a soy sauce brewer founded in 1873 at Sakae-cho, Tatebayashi City, Gunma Prefecture, whose former shop and residence of 1853 (the Shoda Memorial Hall), archive storehouse, brewing storehouses Nos. 6, 7 and 8 of the Meiji and early Taisho periods, and Inari shrine in its grounds were registered as six Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (structures) on February 17, 2004 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Shoda Shoyu).
According to Shoda Shoyu, the Shoda family ran the rice dealership Yonebun from the Edo period, and the third Shoda Bun'emon turned the business to soy sauce brewing in 1873. The memorial hall was built by the second Bun'emon as the family home and shop and served as headquarters until 1986; it is also part of the Japan Heritage story "Sato-numa" (Shoda Shoyu, Japan Heritage Portal).
Six Buildings
The memorial hall, the original shop whose ridge tag names the carpenter Kurihara Toemon, was moved to its present site in 1987 together with the archive storehouse to its north, which now serves as the hall's store (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Storehouse No. 6 (1908) is three-aisled and the only brewing store with a hip-and-gable roof; No. 7 (1911) is aligned to its south; and No. 8 (early Taisho) is fifty-two bays long, its walls and roof defining the brewery's west side. South of No. 8 stands a late Edo Inari shrine still dear to local people (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Visiting and Location
According to Shoda Shoyu, the Shoda Memorial Hall can be visited free of charge from 10:00 to 16:00 on company working days (closed weekends, holidays, summer break and New Year); groups of ten or more must book. Factory tours are currently suspended. It is a 2-minute walk from the west exit of Tatebayashi Station on the Tobu Isesaki Line.
The brewing storehouses stand within a working brewery and are not open inside. The address is 3-1 Sakae-cho, Tatebayashi City.
References
- Shoda Shoyu Shoda Memorial Hall (Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003808
- Shoda Shoyu Archive Storehouse (Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003809
- Shoda Shoyu Brewery Storehouse No. 6 (Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003810
- Shoda Shoyu Brewery Storehouse No. 7 (Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003811
- Shoda Shoyu Brewery Storehouse No. 8 (Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003812
- Inari Shrine in the Shoda Shoyu Grounds (Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003813
- Shoda Memorial Hall Visits (Shoda Shoyu)
- https://www.shoda.co.jp/facility/kinenkan
- Shoda Shoyu Shoda Memorial Hall (Japan Heritage Portal)
- https://japan-heritage.bunka.go.jp/ja/culturalproperties/result/4182/
Last verified: 2026.10.11
Basic Information
| Name | Shoda Shoyu (Tatebayashi) |
|---|---|
| Location | 3-1 Sakae-cho, Tatebayashi City, Gunma Prefecture |
| Owner | Shoda Shoyu Co. |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (6) |
| Coordinates | 36.24797, 139.52619 |
