Where the Homei Brewery Washed and Steamed Its Rice
Homei Sake Brewery Kettle Room and Rice-Washing Room (鳳鳴酒造釜場及び洗米場, Hōmei Shuzō Kamaba oyobi Senmaijō) is a late Edo-period work building of a sake brewery in Gofukumachi, Tamba-Sasayama City, Hyogo Prefecture, entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on September 19, 2003. It stands toward the east side of the Homei brewery site, south of Storehouse No. 2.
It is a single-storey, earthen-walled Dozo-zukuri building with a gabled pantiled roof and a building area of 96 square meters. Here the rice was washed and steamed, the first steps of sake making, and the building is now part of the route through the Horoyoi Jokagura brewery museum.
How the Kettle Room Was Built
The Agency for Cultural Affairs records that the floor of the Homei Sake Brewery Kettle Room and Rice-Washing Room is beaten earth. Work that used great quantities of water and filled the room with steam was no place for timber floors. Carrying washed rice, boiling water in the great kettle and steaming the rice in a wooden steamer, the koshiki, all happened on the same earthen floor.
At the southwest corner a small room projects slightly from the building, divided into an inspection room and a store. The Agency does not say what was inspected there, but it placed a spot for checking the rice or how well it had steamed right at the corner of the workroom.
Outside, the walls are of thick earth and plaster. Building the room that held the fires in storehouse fashion also kept flames from spreading to the storehouses around it.
Why the Kettle Room Was Registered
The Homei Sake Brewery Kettle Room and Rice-Washing Room was registered as a model of architectural form. The Agency cites its use as space for brewing and calls it a good example of a storehouse built as a brewer's workplace.
A storehouse normally means a building for keeping things. Here the storehouse method of construction was put to work, and it was this working storehouse, rather than one for storage, that the Agency chose to recognize.
What to See in the Kettle Room
On the brewery's museum route the building appears as the kettle room, the stop after the rice store. The brewery describes it as the place where rice was washed and steamed in the koshiki, and it displays a large kettle used for steaming sake rice, a wooden steamer, treading tubs and carrying buckets.
Look at where the kettle stands in relation to the open floor. The steamer sat on top of the kettle so the steam rose through the rice, and the cooked rice was carried in buckets onward, to the koji room and to the brewing storehouse to the south. Admission is free and the route starts in the shop in the main house. The sources do not mention whether the tools may be photographed, so ask the staff.
Q&A
- What is the Homei Sake Brewery Kettle Room and Rice-Washing Room?
- It is a late Edo-period work building on the Homei brewery site in Gofukumachi, Tamba-Sasayama City, where rice was washed and steamed. The single-storey, earthen-walled building covers 96 square meters and was registered on September 19, 2003.
- Why was the Homei Sake Brewery Kettle Room and Rice-Washing Room registered?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs registered it as a model of architectural form, a good example of a storehouse built as a brewer's workplace.
- What is inside the Homei Sake Brewery Kettle Room and Rice-Washing Room?
- An earthen floor, with a small projecting room at the southwest corner used as an inspection room and store.
- What can visitors see in the Homei Sake Brewery Kettle Room?
- As the kettle room on the museum route, it displays a large rice-steaming kettle, a wooden steamer, treading tubs and carrying buckets.
- Can I visit the Homei Sake Brewery Kettle Room and Rice-Washing Room?
- Yes. It is on the free Horoyoi Jokagura museum route, which starts in the shop in the main house.
Basic Information
| Name | Homei Sake Brewery Kettle Room and Rice-Washing Room (鳳鳴酒造釜場及び洗米場) |
|---|---|
| Location | 46 Gofukumachi, Tamba-Sasayama City, Hyogo Prefecture (listed under Sasayama City in the Agency database) |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registration no. 28-0132 |
| Year Designated | Registered September 19, 2003 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Earthen-walled building, single storey, tiled roof, building area 96 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 Kamaba oyobi Senmaijo
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003580
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Homei Shuzo Dozo Ni
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003579
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Homei Shuzo Shikomigura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003581
- Homei Shuzo official site: Jokagura and tour route
- https://houmei.wixsite.com/houmeisyuzou/projects-3
- Homei Shuzo official site: Jokagura and Ajimagura
- https://houmei.wixsite.com/houmeisyuzou/kura
Last verified: 2026.09.30
