What Is the Hakubotan Sake Brewery Tenpogura Brewing Storehouse?
The Hakubotan Sake Brewery Tenpogura Brewing Storehouse (白牡丹酒造天保蔵仕込蔵, Hakubotan Shuzō Tenpōgura Shikomigura) is an earthen-walled sake storehouse of the early Showa period (1926 to 1945) at Tenpogura in Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on June 28, 2017. It stands in the middle of the Tenpogura lot and is the most recently built of Hakubotan's eight registered structures.
It is a large, fully two-storey building, 24 meters long and 13 meters deep, with a building area of 307 square meters. The gabled roof is covered in red tiles. The ground floor is an earth-floored hall lined with brewing tanks, and the upper floor serves as storage. The walls have timber boarding at the base and lime plaster above, carried right up under the eaves.
A shikomi-gura is where steamed rice, koji and water are combined in tanks and left to ferment into moromi, the mash that becomes sake. Tenpogura is still in use: Hakubotan labels the sake it enters in the national new sake competition as a Tenpogura brew, and the company chronology records that year-round brewing equipment was installed at Tenpogura in 2000.
Why Tenpogura Brewing Storehouse Was Registered
The Tenpogura Brewing Storehouse was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, number 34-0238, for its contribution to the historic landscape. A deep earthen storehouse, 13 meters across, under a broad red-tiled roof is one of the shapes that make Saijo read as a brewing town.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs draws attention to the interior framing. Posts rising to the ridge stand every 3 bays (about 5.5 meters), and they carry a longitudinal beam hewn to an octagonal section. In a storehouse this deep, the roof is not left to the side walls alone; a central row of posts takes the ridge and the beams. Hakubotan Sake Brewery Tenpogura Brewing Storehouse solves the problem with a heavy octagonal timber.
The same description records the division of use, tanks on the earthen ground floor and storage above, which shows that the building still works as a brewing vessel.
What to Look For
The first thing to register at Tenpogura Brewing Storehouse is the size of its red-tiled gable roof. At 24 by 13 meters the building is broad for its length, and at the gable end the triangular wall rises high.
The walls are finished in two layers: boards below, white plaster above. The boarding protects the earthen wall at the height where people and carts are most likely to knock it. Above, plaster wraps even the underside of the eaves, so no timber is exposed.
The octagonal beam inside cannot be seen from outside. If you can find a position where a gable wall is in view, its height gives a sense of the roof that the ridge posts and beam carry. Compared with the Enpogura South End Building, only 3 bays deep, this storehouse is more than twice as deep.
Visiting Tenpogura Brewing Storehouse
Tenpogura Brewing Storehouse is a working brewery. Hakubotan's visitor guide covers the exhibition, tasting and shop at the head office and does not include the interior of the storehouse, so assume you cannot go inside.
How much of the exterior is visible depends on conditions on the ground. Look from outside the premises, from the public road only. During the brewing season there is more traffic in and out of the storehouses, so avoid getting in the way of the work.
Exhibition room hours and directions from Saijo Station are on the Hakubotan Sake Brewery group page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Hiroshima
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Hakubotan Sake Brewery Tenpogura Brewing Storehouse
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FAQ
- Can I tour the inside of the Hakubotan Sake Brewery Tenpogura Brewing Storehouse?
- It is not part of the company's visitor guide. The public area is the head-office exhibition room; the storehouse is a working brewery.
- How big is Tenpogura Brewing Storehouse?
- It is a 2-storey dozo-zukuri storehouse 24 meters long and 13 meters deep, with a building area of 307 square meters.
- When was Tenpogura Brewing Storehouse built?
- In the early Showa period (1926 to 1945). It is the most recently built of Hakubotan's eight registered structures.
- What is structurally special about Tenpogura Brewing Storehouse?
- Ridge posts every 3 bays (about 5.5 meters) support a beam hewn to an octagonal section. The gabled roof is covered in red tiles.
- When was Tenpogura Brewing Storehouse registered as a cultural property?
- On June 28, 2017, as number 34-0238, for its contribution to the historic landscape.
Basic Information
| Name | Hakubotan Sake Brewery Tenpogura Brewing Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 879 Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | 2017 (registered June 28) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 2-storey dozo-zukuri storehouse, tiled roof, building area 307 square meters (24 meters long, 13 meters deep) |
| Owner | Hakubotan Sake Brewery Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Interior not included in the visitor guide (head-office exhibition room is open) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Hakubotan Sake Brewery Tenpogura Brewing Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00011827
- Company Profile (Hakubotan Sake Brewery, Japanese)
- https://www.hakubotan.co.jp/about/
- Brewery Tours (Hakubotan Sake Brewery, Japanese)
- https://www.hakubotan.co.jp/sakagura/
- Product List (Hakubotan Official Online Shop, Japanese)
- https://hakubotan.shop-pro.jp/?mode=cate&cbid=2191469&csid=0
Last verified: 2026.09.16
