Fukubijin Sake Brewery Bottling Plant

A Storehouse Look, a Workshop Inside

Fukubijin Sake Brewery Bottling Plant (福美人酒造瓶詰場, Fukubijin Shuzō Binzumejō) is an early Showa bottling hall (1926 to 1945) on the Ebisu-gura compound in Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on 1 August 2016.

It stands west of the office, with a packing room between the two. It is a single-storey timber building with a gabled red-tiled roof, its ridge running east to west, and covers 164 square metres.

The walls are plastered right up to the eaves so that it resembles an earthen storehouse, but unlike a brewing hall it is full of glass. A run of windows along a plaster wall is its defining feature.

Light and Hygiene

Fukubijin Sake Brewery Bottling Plant is where finished sake went into bottles. A brewing storehouse wants thick walls and small openings to keep its temperature steady; bottling wants light on the workbench. Hence the generous glazing, which the Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out for creating a bright working space.

Inside, a flat board ceiling hides the roof framing and the walls are lined with timber. The national record describes the flat ceiling as a hygienic measure, since it keeps dust from dropping onto the work below. Concern for cleanliness at the moment sake leaves the brewery is built into the room itself.

Outside, it dresses like a traditional storehouse; inside, it follows the thinking of a modern factory. The building slips into the old brewery streetscape while serving a Showa-era production line.

What to Look For

From the front, windows march along the white Shikkui plaster wall in a steady rhythm. A plastered storehouse wall pierced by so many openings is found nowhere else on the Ebisu-gura compound.

The red-tiled gable roof matches the colour of the neighbouring storehouse roofs. The bottling hall is small and low, but its roof ties it firmly into the brewery group.

Visiting

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

Head west after passing through the gateposts: beyond the office and the packing room stands the bottling hall. If work is under way, keep your distance from the doors.