Fukubijin Sake Brewery No. 2 Storehouse

The Long White Wall on the East Side

Fukubijin Sake Brewery No. 2 Storehouse (福美人酒造二号蔵, Fukubijin Shuzō Nigō-gura) is a sake storehouse built around 1919 on the Ebisu-gura compound in Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on 1 August 2016.

It lines the east side of the compound with its ridge running north to south. The walls are Dozo-zukuri, two storeys high under a red-tiled roof, and the building covers 410 square metres. Its long white Shikkui plaster wall draws a straight edge down the eastern side of the site.

The company was founded in 1917, so the No. 2 Storehouse went up within about two years of its launch, one of the early buildings as the Ebisu-gura compound took shape.

A Western Truss in a Town of Japanese Roofs

The distinctive feature of Fukubijin Sake Brewery No. 2 Storehouse is hidden under its roof. The roof is carried on a King post truss, a Western system in which a central post and diagonal members form a rigid triangle that spans a wide interior without posts.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that this is rare in Saijo, where Wagoya, the traditional Japanese roof framing of heavy beams and short struts, is the norm. Choosing a Western truss for a brand-new company brewery fits the image of a firm that made its name by adopting new technique.

The second reason for its registration is its presence in the street. The national record credits its long white plaster wall with forming part of the townscape of brewery buildings for which Saijo is known.

What to Look For

Take in the length of the wall and the red tiles along its top. White plaster fills the whole face and the red roof closes it with a single line, the Saijo brewery palette at its simplest.

On a clear morning the east-facing wall catches the sun and the plaster is at its brightest. By late afternoon the wall falls into shade and the red roofline sharpens. The building looks quite different at different hours.

Visiting

There is no announced public access to the interior of Fukubijin Sake Brewery No. 2 Storehouse. You can see the exterior by entering the Ebisu-gura compound during shop hours.

Part of the long east wall is also visible from the street outside. The truss itself is inside the roof and cannot be seen, but the pitch of the roof and the length of the ridge give a sense of the large, post-free space it covers.