A Brick Column Rising Above the Rooftops
The tallest thing at the Kanemitsu Brewery is not a hall but a chimney. It stands northeast of the packing house, a brick column reaching about twelve metres, visible well before the rest of the compound comes into view. The base is close to a square in plan, roughly a metre and a half on each side, and the brickwork is laid in English bond, courses of headers and stretchers alternating in the pattern favoured for strong industrial masonry. It dates to the early Showa period, the newest of the Kanemitsu structures registered together in 2020.
Near the top the brickwork steps outward into a banded cornice, a simple decorative flourish on an otherwise plain shaft, and a steel frame reinforces the upper length. For all its industrial purpose, the chimney was given this one considered detail where it would be seen from farthest away.
A Landmark Worth Protecting
Registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in April 2020, the chimney is listed under the same reasoning as the storehouses around it: its contribution to the historic look of the place. Here that contribution is literal and visible for a distance. Rising above the tiled roofs, the brick column has long served as a marker for the brewery and a familiar point in the local skyline, the kind of everyday landmark by which people locate a district.
Japan's registration system, in place since 1996, is well suited to a structure like this. It recognises not only buildings but other constructions that shape a scene, and a brewery chimney of the early twentieth century is a clear example of the industrial heritage the system was meant to keep.
Reading an Age of Change in the Brickwork
A brick chimney of this era speaks of a moment when a long-established brewery was modernising. Kanemitsu had been making sake since 1880, and by the early Showa years it was adding the fixed industrial equipment that a growing operation needed. The chimney is a survivor of that phase, standing now beside the older Meiji storehouses and the small Taisho and Showa outbuildings that share the grounds.
Visitors cannot climb or enter the chimney, but there is no need to: it is best appreciated from a distance, the way it was always meant to be seen. From the brewery shop on the grounds you can look up at the banded top, then taste the Kamokinshu and Sakurafubuki sake made in the halls beneath it.
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Q&A
- How tall is the chimney?
- It rises about twelve metres. The base is roughly a metre and a half square, and the shaft is reinforced with a steel frame in its upper part.
- What is English bond?
- It is a way of laying brick in which courses of headers (bricks end-on) alternate with courses of stretchers (bricks laid lengthwise). It gives a strong wall and was common in industrial masonry.
- What is the pattern near the top?
- The brickwork steps outward into a banded cornice, a simple decorative detail placed where it is visible from a distance.
- How old is it?
- It dates to the early Showa period and is the newest of the Kanemitsu buildings registered together in April 2020.
- Can I go up it?
- No. The chimney is not open to entry, but it is best seen from a distance, and the on-site shop sits directly below it.
Basic Information
| Name | Kanemitsu Sake Brewery Entotsu (Chimney) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1364-2 Nomio, Kurose-cho, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture |
| Category | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure); registration no. 34-0272 |
| Registered | 3 April 2020 (95th round of registrations) |
| Count and size | 1 structure; brick construction, height approx. 12 m; base approx. 1.5 m square, English bond |
| Period | Early Showa period |
| Access | About 10 min by car from Maki IC on the Higashi-Hiroshima Kure Expressway; about 3 min on foot from Nishimonzen bus stop. A brewery shop is on the grounds. |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database — Registered Tangible Cultural Property record
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013330
- Kanemitsu Sake Brewery — official website
- https://www.kamokin.com/
- Higashi-Hiroshima Tourism (Higashiru) — Kanemitsu Brewery
- https://higashihiroshima-kanko.jp/spot/kanemitsu/
Last verified: 2026.07.05