Kirei Sake Brewery No. 1 Storehouse

An L-shaped earthen storehouse at the back of the plot

Kirei Sake Brewery No. 1 Storehouse (亀齢酒造一号蔵, Kirei Shuzō Ichigō-gura) is a sake storehouse in Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, built in the late Meiji era (1898 to 1912), and was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 1 August 2016. It stands toward the north end of the east side of the brewery's main plot and is the oldest of the six Kirei structures registered that day.

The plan is an L. One wing runs north to south along the east edge of the plot; the other runs east to west along the north edge, and the two meet at the northeast corner. The north–south wing is 34 metres long and the east–west wing 17 metres. Both are two-storey Dozo-zukuri storehouses under tiled roofs, with a combined building area of 642 square metres.

No other building in the group comes close to it in size.

Why it was listed: a long white wall under red tiles

Kirei Sake Brewery No. 1 Storehouse was registered as a contribution to the historical landscape of the nation, and here the landscape is largely a matter of length. Two walls, one 34 metres and one 17 metres, turn a right angle and frame the east and north sides of the main plot in white. The Agency for Cultural Affairs makes a point of how well the red roof tiles set off the white Shikkui plaster.

The date matters too. Higashihiroshima City describes the late Meiji and Taisho eras as the period when Saijo's storehouses grew larger, helped by the opening of the railway station and advances in brewing technique. The No. 1 Storehouse belongs to the start of that expansion, and 1898, the year the company gives for its founding, falls inside the Agency's date range for the building.

What to look for: a lean-to and a clipped gable

A Geya, a lower lean-to roof, runs along the west face of the north–south wing. Set against the two-storey body, it draws a single line of shadow along the bottom of the long white wall.

The west end of the east–west wing is finished as a half-hipped gable: the peak of the gable is clipped back at an angle, so a small triangular roof face sits above the white end wall. Compare it with the plain gable of the north–south wing and you can see that the builders treated the two wings differently.

The No. 1 Storehouse Chimney rises in the middle of the main plot. By name it belongs to this storehouse, but it is Taisho-era and so younger than the building. Keeping that order in mind, storehouse first and chimney later, makes the layout of the plot easier to read.

Visiting

Kirei Sake Brewery No. 1 Storehouse is part of a working brewery and its interior is not open to the public. Because it stands at the back of the main plot, on the east side, you cannot take in the whole building from the gatepost on the sake street.

The part of the grounds open to visitors is Manekiya, the brewery shop. While the shop is trading you can see some of the storehouse exterior; how much depends on which areas are accessible that day. Ask the staff before taking photographs on the grounds.