Chateau Kamiya Former Brewery Facility

Château Kamiya: Japan's First Authentic Winery and Its Brick Cellars from the Meiji Era

Tucked just a nine-minute walk from Ushiku Station in Ibaraki Prefecture stands a complex that looks more like a corner of Bordeaux than the Kanto countryside: red-brick walls, an ornate clock tower, and the unmistakable lettering "CHATEAU D. KAMIYA" carved into the facade. This is the former brewery complex of Château Kamiya, completed in 1903 and recognized as Japan's first full-fledged wine château. Among its surviving structures, the Fermentation Room (Hakkoshitsu) and the Storage Cellar (Chozoko) form the heart of the operation. Together with the Office Building, they were designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan in 2008 — a tribute to a Meiji-era dream that helped launch a country's wine culture.

The Vision of Kamiya Denbei and the Birth of the Ushiku Winery

The story behind these brick buildings begins with one remarkable entrepreneur. Kamiya Denbei (1856–1922) was a self-made businessman from Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture) who, as a young laborer at a French trading firm in Yokohama, was treated with wine during a serious illness. His recovery sparked a lifelong fascination with the beverage, and he resolved to bring authentic wine to ordinary Japanese drinkers.

After founding Tokyo's first Western-style bar — the famous Kamiya Bar in Asakusa — Denbei sent his adopted son-in-law Denzo to study viticulture and winemaking in Carbon-Blanc, near Bordeaux, in 1894. Denzo returned three years later carrying technical manuals, equipment samples, and even soil specimens. The pair then searched for terrain resembling Bordeaux and selected the Onnabaragahara plateau in Ushiku. The site offered favorable soil, generous land, and crucial access to the Joban railway line linking Tokyo. Construction of the brewery began in 1901, and the complex was completed in September 1903, making the entire chain — vineyard, fermentation, aging, bottling — possible in one place for the first time in Japan.

Why These Buildings Were Designated as Important Cultural Properties

On June 9, 2008, three buildings of the former brewery — the Office Building, Fermentation Room, and Storage Cellar — were designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan under the category "earliest authentic wine brewery facilities." The designation recognizes two distinct values.

First, the complex represents an exceptionally well-preserved example of mid-Meiji-era brick industrial architecture. By the early 20th century, brick construction was rapidly being adopted for important Japanese buildings, but few full industrial complexes from this period survive intact. The fact that the principal structures of an authentic wine brewery remain almost entirely as built confers high historical value.

Second, the Fermentation Room is praised for its industrial technology heritage. Its multi-level layout — with equipment arranged floor by floor to follow the gravity-fed flow of wine production — is a rare physical record of how a Bordeaux-style winery actually functioned in turn-of-the-century Japan. Visitors can still trace the entire process from grape arrival to barrel aging by walking through the building.

Highlights of the Fermentation Room (Hakkoshitsu)

The Fermentation Room — now operating as the Kamiya Denbei Memorial Hall — is the most visitor-friendly part of the heritage complex. It is a brick building of two stories above ground and one underground, with a building footprint of about 436.75 square meters and projecting wings on the western and southern faces, topped by a sheet-iron tile roof.

The Vertical Logic of Winemaking

Step inside and the first thing many visitors notice is the temperature: cool, still, slightly fragrant with the ghost of oak. The building was engineered so that grapes could be received and crushed on the upper level, then sent downward by gravity to fermentation tanks below, before reaching the cellar at the lowest level. This vertical arrangement minimized the need for pumping and reduced contamination risks — modern principles already realized over a century ago.

The Hall of Twenty-Six Barrels

On the ground floor, an arresting line of twenty-six enormous wooden fermentation barrels stretches into the dimness. Some are partially set into the basement level, their staves rising through cut openings in the floor. The cool, hushed atmosphere — particularly underground — has become a favorite scene for visitors interested in industrial heritage and atmospheric photography.

Memorial Exhibits

The upper floor houses exhibits tracing Kamiya Denbei's life, the early days of Japanese wine, antique imported French equipment, and a collection of medals and prizes that the Ushiku winery received at exhibitions in Europe and North America. Photography is permitted, and admission to the memorial hall is free.

Highlights of the Storage Cellar (Chozoko)

Connected to the north side of the Fermentation Room, the Storage Cellar is a single-story brick building of about 404.58 square meters with a sheet-iron tile roof. It was the longest of the three buildings, designed to hold maturing wine in oak barrels at a stable temperature year-round. Although the interior is not regularly opened to the general public for free viewing, the building has periodically been used as a restaurant space, allowing diners to take their meals among walls that once cradled the country's earliest premium domestic wines.

From the outside, the cellar's elongated brick facade — punctuated by tall, narrow windows and connected to the Fermentation Room's western wing — gives the complex its characteristic château silhouette and is one of the most photographed views on the property.

The Designer: Okada Tokitaro

The brewery was designed by the architect Okada Tokitaro, a disciple of Tatsuno Kingo (the architect of Tokyo Station). Okada is also known for designing the Mikasa Hotel in Karuizawa, another Important Cultural Property. His handling of the Château Kamiya commission shows how Meiji-era Japanese architects were able to fuse imported Western styles with practical industrial requirements. The Office Building's elaborate clock tower and ornamental brickwork were carefully calculated to make the place feel worthy of the title "château," while the production buildings prioritize functional layout — yet all three are visibly part of one harmonious composition.

Restoration and Continued Care

The buildings sustained damage during the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011, particularly to the brick walls. A careful restoration was carried out under the supervision of a public foundation specializing in cultural property building preservation. The work involved reinforcing the brick with discreet modern materials while keeping the original surfaces visible — an example of the layered care that allows industrial heritage of this scale to remain in active use.

Visitor Information

Château Kamiya — operating today under the name Ushiku Château — is open as a free admission grounds. Visitors can stroll the gardens, photograph the brick facades, visit the Kamiya Denbei Memorial Hall (housed in the former Fermentation Room), browse the souvenir shop, and dine at the on-site French restaurant and barbecue garden. Wines and craft beers produced on the premises are available for tasting and purchase.

Getting There

The site is roughly a nine-minute walk from the East Exit of Ushiku Station on the JR Joban Line, which is about 50 minutes from Tokyo's Ueno Station. By car, the nearest interchange is Tsukuba-Ushiku IC on the Ken-O Expressway. Paid parking is available adjacent to the property.

Surrounding Attractions

Ushiku and its neighbors offer plenty to round out a day trip. The Ushiku Daibutsu, a 120-meter bronze Buddha statue holding a Guinness record as the world's tallest bronze standing Buddha, sits about a 15-minute drive away. The Ushiku Marsh (Ushikunuma) is associated with the kappa folklore that gives the city its character, while the Unkyotei — the former studio of the painter Ogawa Usen, famed for his kappa paintings — is open to visitors on weekends. Shopping enthusiasts can also visit the nearby Ami Premium Outlets, and nature lovers may enjoy the trails of Ushiku Nature Observation Forest.