Saijo Tsuru Brewery Shuhogura Brewing Storehouse

The Working Heart of the Shuhogura

The Saijo Tsuru Brewery Shuhogura Brewing Storehouse (西條鶴醸造酒宝蔵醸造蔵, Saijōtsuru Jōzō Shuhōgura Jōzōgura) is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri sake storehouse of the late Meiji period (1898 to 1912) at Saijo Tsuru Brewery in Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 1, 2016. It has a tiled roof and a building area of 153 square meters. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as the core of the brewing operation on the site.

At the back of the brewery lot stands a continuous line of storehouses known as the Shuhogura (酒宝蔵, "sake treasure storehouses"). The Saijo Tsuru Brewery Shuhogura Brewing Storehouse is the southern one; the fermentation storehouse continues to the north.

An Earthen-Walled Storehouse 10 by 4.5 Ken

It measures 10 Ken along the ridge and 4.5 ken across. Taking one ken as about 1.82 meters, that comes to roughly 18.2 by 8.2 meters. The roof is a Kirizuma-zukuri gable with the entrance on the long side (Hirairi), covered in red tile.

The walls are finished in Shikkui lime plaster. Outside they are Ōkabe, with the posts buried in plaster; inside they are Shinkabe, with the posts left exposed. From the street side you see only smooth white planes, but step in and a regular rhythm of posts appears. The two faces of the same wall are finished in different ways.

The roof is framed with a Truss. A second-floor boarded floor covers only the east half; the west half has no upper floor.

Linked to the Steaming Room and the Chimney

It was registered as number 34-0200 under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation. Its broad red-tiled gable roof is part of what gives Saijo's rows of white brewery storehouses their look.

South of the brewing storehouse is the kamaba, the room where sake rice is steamed. The Agency notes that smoke from the kamaba travels through a flue to the Shuhogura Chimney in the middle of the lot. Steaming room, chimney and brewing storehouse form one unit, and the Saijo Tsuru Brewery Shuhogura Brewing Storehouse sits at its center.

The brewery describes its tour venue as a restored storehouse that keeps the feel of the Meiji era. The notice does not say which storehouse was restored or what the work involved.

Visiting

The interior of the Saijo Tsuru Brewery Shuhogura Brewing Storehouse can be seen only on the brewery's Sakagura Monogatari (Brewery Story) tour. The brewery says the tour takes guests through storehouses in daily use that are normally closed to the public, and photography inside is fully permitted.

The brewery's own notes warn that there are steep stairs inside the brewing storehouse. The city's tourism site asks participants to wear clothes they can move in and to avoid high heels because of steps and stairs. Guests are also asked not to eat natto the day before or the day of the visit and to skip strong perfume or hair products, out of care for the koji mold and yeast that live in the storehouse.

Tour days, fees and directions are gathered on the Saijo Tsuru Brewery page.