The Homei Brewing Storehouse, 20 Meters Long
Homei Sake Brewery Brewing Storehouse (鳳鳴酒造仕込蔵, Hōmei Shuzō Shikomigura) is a late Edo-period sake storehouse in Gofukumachi, Tamba-Sasayama City, Hyogo Prefecture, entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on September 19, 2003. It stands in the middle of the Homei brewery site, south of the Kettle Room and Rice-Washing Room.
It is an earthen-walled Dozo-zukuri storehouse of 2 storeys with a gabled pantiled roof and a building area of 246 square meters, the largest of the nine registered Homei buildings and bigger even than the main house at 210 square meters. This is where steamed rice, koji and water were combined and the mash, moromi, was left to ferment.
The Size and Build of the Brewing Storehouse
The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that the ridge of the Homei Sake Brewery Brewing Storehouse runs east to west and that the building stretches as much as 20 meters along that axis, a length needed to line up the fermenting vats inside. In a site whose buildings follow one another from north to south, this storehouse alone lies crosswise.
The upper walls are plastered in Shikkui and the lower walls are boarded vertically, the boards setting a steady rhythm along the long flank beneath the white plaster that runs up to the eaves. Thick earthen walls that shut out the weather suited a room where the temperature of fermenting mash had to be kept steady.
According to the brewery's museum guide, the storehouse held a large number of fermenting tanks and also served to store the finished sake. From fermentation to storage, this is the building where the sake spent the longest time.
Why the Brewing Storehouse Was Registered
The Homei Sake Brewery Brewing Storehouse was registered as contributing to the historic landscape. The Agency calls it indispensable to conveying the look of a sake brewery.
A brewery is not recognized by its shopfront alone. It is the great storehouse roofs rising behind the street that tell passers-by sake is made there, and the Brewing Storehouse was registered as the building at the heart of that image.
Inside the Brewing Storehouse
The Homei Sake Brewery Brewing Storehouse is the next stop after the kettle room on the free Horoyoi Jokagura museum route, which begins in the shop in the main house. Take a moment first to look down its full 20-meter length.
Near the end of the route, visitors return to the brewing storehouse to see the music-vibration equipment, Homei's own method of converting music into vibrations and passing them into fermenting mash. You can lay a hand on a tank fitted with a transducer and feel it. The company dates its first music-vibration sake to 1996.
Brewing now takes place at Ajimagura, and sake was made in this storehouse only until 1975. What remains to see are tools and displays, but the scale of a late Edo brewing hall can still be felt in full. The sources do not mention photography, so ask the staff.
Q&A
- What is the Homei Sake Brewery Brewing Storehouse?
- It is a late Edo-period sake storehouse in the middle of the Homei brewery site in Gofukumachi, Tamba-Sasayama City. The 2-storey, earthen-walled building has a gabled pantiled roof, covers 246 square meters and was registered on September 19, 2003.
- How big is the Homei Sake Brewery Brewing Storehouse?
- It runs as much as 20 meters from east to west, and at 246 square meters it is the largest of the nine registered Homei buildings.
- Why was the Homei Sake Brewery Brewing Storehouse registered?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs considered it indispensable to the look of a sake brewery and registered it as contributing to the historic landscape.
- What can visitors see in the Homei Sake Brewery Brewing Storehouse?
- Brewing tools and displays, and the music-vibration equipment that passes music into fermenting mash; you can touch a fitted tank and feel the vibration.
- Is sake still brewed in the Homei Sake Brewery Brewing Storehouse?
- No. Brewing here ended in 1975 and now takes place at Ajimagura. The storehouse is open on the free museum route.
Basic Information
| Name | Homei Sake Brewery Brewing Storehouse (鳳鳴酒造仕込蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 73-2 Gofukumachi, Tamba-Sasayama City, Hyogo Prefecture (listed under Sasayama City in the Agency database) |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registration no. 28-0133 |
| Year Designated | Registered September 19, 2003 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Earthen-walled storehouse, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building area 246 square meters |
| Owner | Unknown (not listed in the Agency database) |
| Public Access | Open as part of the museum route (free) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Homei Shuzo Shikomigura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003581
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Homei Shuzo Kamaba oyobi Senmaijo
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003580
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Homei Shuzo Shuoku
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003575
- Homei Shuzo official site: Jokagura and tour route
- https://houmei.wixsite.com/houmeisyuzou/projects-3
- Homei Shuzo official site: Company profile
- https://houmei.wixsite.com/houmeisyuzou/about-8
- Tamba-Sasayama City official tourism site: Homei Shuzo Horoyoi Jokagura
- https://tourism.sasayama.jp/houmeisyuzou/
Last verified: 2026.09.30
