Fukubijin Sake Brewery Gateposts

Granite Posts at the Front of Ebisu-gura

Fukubijin Sake Brewery Gateposts (福美人酒造門柱, Fukubijin Shuzō Monchū) are a pair of Taisho-era stone gateposts (1912 to 1926) on the south side of the Ebisu-gura compound in Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on 1 August 2016.

The gate opens at the centre of the compound's south side, marked by two granite posts. Each is square, 82 centimetres on a side and 2.0 metres high, with chamfered corners and curved carving cut into the faces.

The national record counts the pair as one structure and classes it as a built work other than a building. There are no doors and no roof: two stone posts alone announce the way in.

The Front of the Brewery

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes Fukubijin Sake Brewery Gateposts as forming the frontage of the brewery. The office stands immediately inside on the west, with the No. 1 Storehouse and the chimney beyond. The two posts are where the whole layout begins.

The national record gives two figures for the width of the opening: 6.1 metres in the structural summary and 5.6 metres in the descriptive text. Whether that reflects different measuring points or a slip in one entry cannot be settled from the record, so both are given here.

Squat and square, the posts suggest stability more than grandeur. At 2.0 metres they stand just above head height, a confident but unintimidating entrance for a brewery incorporated as a modern company.

What to Look For

Get close to the corners and faces. The edges are chamfered, and curving lines are carved into the surface, catching soft shadows on the coarse grain of the granite.

Step back into the street and look through the gate. Between the two posts you can frame the boarded wall of the office and the chimney rising behind it. The gateposts work as a picture frame for Ebisu-gura.

Visiting

Fukubijin Sake Brewery Gateposts stand at the entrance of the Ebisu-gura compound and can be seen from the street at any time. During shop hours you can walk through them into the compound.

Please do not lean or sit on the posts, and keep clear of vehicles and people using the entrance.