Kamotsuru Sake Brewery No. 2 Brewhouse West Well

The main well of the No. 2 Brewhouse, now indoors

Kamotsuru Sake Brewery No. 2 Brewhouse West Well (賀茂鶴酒造二号蔵西井戸, Kamotsuru Shuzō Nigōgura Nishiido) is a stone well from the late Meiji period (1898 to 1912) at the head office of Kamotsuru Sake Brewery in Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima City, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on June 28, 2017.

It sits almost against the southwest corner of the No. 2 east-west wing and has since been enclosed within a building. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that it serves as the principal well of the No. 2 Brewhouse.

A hexagon of 19-centimeter stone

The curb is hexagonal, built of cut stone 19 centimeters thick, and stands 40 centimeters high; the registered structure covers 2.6 square meters.

The No. 1 Brewhouse well and the No. 4 Brewhouse well share the hexagonal form, and the No. 4 well uses the same 19-centimeter stone, though it stands only 31 centimeters high, 9 centimeters lower than this one. The method of setting a hexagon from evenly cut blocks evidently carried through Kamotsuru's well building from the late Meiji period into the late Taisho era.

The only Kamotsuru well registered for its design

Of Kamotsuru's four registered wells, only the Kamotsuru Sake Brewery No. 2 Brewhouse West Well was registered as a model of design; the other three were registered for their contribution to the landscape. The precisely cut hexagonal curb appears to be what earned it that status.

Visiting the Kamotsuru Sake Brewery No. 2 Brewhouse West Well

The Kamotsuru Sake Brewery No. 2 Brewhouse West Well is inside a working brewery building and cannot be seen from outside; no public access is announced. The brewery's festival tours go inside the No. 2 Brewhouse, but their notices do not say whether the well is shown, so ask on the day.