The Rice-Steaming House and Its Brick Chimney
At the Kobayashi Brewery in Kuriyama, Hokkaido, one building announces its purpose with a chimney. The Mushimai-jo is the rice-steaming house, where the rice that goes into sake was steamed over a boiler, and a brick chimney rising near the north gable carried off the smoke. Built in 1900 (Meiji 33) and standing west of the First Warehouse, it is a single-story brick structure covering 282 square meters under a sheet-iron gabled roof.
The house runs north to south, about 29 meters along the ridge and roughly ten meters across. Its footing is laid in stone, and at each of the four corners the brickwork is gathered into a pilaster-like form that frames the walls. Windows open in the north gable, with two openings there, giving the working interior its light. The chimney sits toward the east end of the north gable, and that vertical accent gives the building a silhouette unlike any of the warehouses around it.
Kobayashi Brewery began in Sapporo in 1878 (Meiji 11) and moved to Kuriyama in 1901 for the water of the Yubari River. Its sake is sold as Kita no Nishiki, a name given by founder Kobayashi Yonezaburo to express the hope of earning honor in the north of Japan.
Why This Building Is a Registered Cultural Property
The rice-steaming house was registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property on October 18, 2006. Registration is not the same as designation. National Treasure and Important Cultural Property status are reserved for the most significant works, while registration is a lighter protection for buildings of roughly fifty years or more that contribute to the historic character of their setting. The standard met here was that the structure contributes to the country's historic landscape.
This building matters because it makes the brewing process visible in brick and stone. Where the warehouses stored, this house worked, steaming the rice that every later stage depended on. As one of the thirteen structures on the grounds registered together in 2006, it rounds out a rare surviving example of how a sake brewery was organized in the settlement years of Hokkaido, when coal towns nearby created a steady market for drink.
The chimney is the clearest sign of that function. Few breweries keep such a feature intact, and its survival is part of what gives the rice-steaming house its distinctive appearance and its documentary worth.
What to Look For When You Visit
Find the chimney first. It rises near the north gable and immediately separates this building from the storehouses, which have no need of one. Then look low, at the stone footing that lifts the brick walls off the ground, and at the corners, where the brickwork thickens into upright pilaster forms that lend the plain walls a sense of frame and order.
Exteriors across the grounds are open to view. The Kita no Nishiki Memorial Hall, in the 1944 former office, displays around five thousand brewing tools and runs a shop and tasting counter, where the steamed rice that began its journey in this house ends as sake in the glass. Interiors are shown to groups of ten or more by reservation, and the brewery festival each April opens the buildings to everyone.
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Q&A
- What was the rice-steaming house used for?
- It was where rice for brewing was steamed over a boiler. Steamed rice is needed for making koji and for the fermenting mash, so this was an essential early stage in producing sake.
- Why does it have a chimney?
- The brick chimney near the north gable vented the boiler that produced the steam. It is a rare surviving feature and gives the building its distinctive outline among the brewery's storehouses.
- When and how was it built?
- In 1900 (Meiji 33), as a single-story brick building with a stone footing and a sheet-iron gabled roof, covering 282 square meters, with the chimney attached.
- Can I go inside?
- Exteriors are open to view from the grounds. The interior is accessible by guided tour for groups of ten or more with a reservation, and during the annual April brewery festival.
- Where is the brewery?
- At 3-109 Nishiki, Kuriyama, Yubari District, Hokkaido, about an hour by car from Sapporo in the Sorachi region.
Basic Information
| Name | Kobayashi Sake Brewery Rice-Steaming House (Kobayashi Shuzo Mushimai-jo) |
|---|---|
| Location | 3-109 Nishiki, Kuriyama, Yubari District, Hokkaido |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building); registered October 18, 2006 |
| Registration No. | 01-0088 |
| Built | 1900 (Meiji 33) |
| Structure | Brick, single story, sheet-iron gabled roof, with chimney; floor area 282 square meters; one building |
| Owner | Kobayashi Brewery Co., Ltd. |
| Access | Grounds and exteriors open to visitors; interior by guided tour for groups of 10 or more, reservation required |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Kobayashi Shuzo Mushimai-jo
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005727
- Town of Kuriyama Official Website: Kobayashi Brewery and Kita no Nishiki Memorial Hall
- https://www.town.kuriyama.hokkaido.jp/soshiki/53/64.html
- HOKKAIDO LOVE! Official Hokkaido Tourism Site: Kobayashi Brewery Building Group
- https://www.visit-hokkaido.jp/spot/detail_12193.html
Last verified: 2026.06.25