Kamotsuru Sake Brewery No. 2 Brewhouse East Well

A well of rounded fieldstone

Kamotsuru Sake Brewery No. 2 Brewhouse East Well (賀茂鶴酒造二号蔵東井戸, Kamotsuru Shuzō Nigōgura Higashiido) 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 lies southeast of the No. 2 east-west wing, in the southeast corner of the site. At 1.7 square meters it is the smallest of Kamotsuru's four registered wells.

Built differently from the other three

The shaft is laid in uncut fieldstone on a round plan, topped with a cut-stone curb. The other three registered wells, at the No. 1 Brewhouse, the No. 2 west well and the No. 4 Brewhouse, are finished above ground with hexagonal cut stone, so the Kamotsuru Sake Brewery No. 2 Brewhouse East Well is the plainest of the group.

The two No. 2 wells also live differently: the west well, the brewhouse's main well, has been enclosed in a building, while the east well remains outdoors in the corner of the yard. Having more than one well reflects the larger scale of brewing at Kamotsuru by the late Meiji period.

Why the Kamotsuru Sake Brewery No. 2 Brewhouse East Well was registered

It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The agency calls it essential both to brewing and to the look of Saijo. The town's brewing water is groundwater from Mount Ryuo, and Kamotsuru notes that each brewhouse has its own well for it.

Visiting the Kamotsuru Sake Brewery No. 2 Brewhouse East Well

The Kamotsuru Sake Brewery No. 2 Brewhouse East Well is inside the working brewery grounds; no public access or water drawing is announced, and we could not confirm whether it is visible from the street. Please do not enter the grounds to look for it.