The Kyu-Kamagura of Buyu: The Old Kettle House and a Wartime Story
Tucked against the northwest of the brewing hall at the Buyu sake brewery in Yuki, Ibaraki, is a low, single-storey earthen building with a tall plastered gable. This is the kyu-kamagura, the old kettle storehouse, built in 1904, the thirty-seventh year of Meiji. The word kama refers to the great kettle in which rice was once steamed for brewing, and the prefix kyu, meaning former, carries a history that touches one of the brewery's hardest chapters.
Buyu was founded in the Keio era, around 1867, by Hosaka Yukichi, who had come from the Echigo country, today Niigata, to a castle town grown rich on silk weaving. During the Second World War the government requisitioned metal from across the country, down to temple bells and household pots, and breweries were not spared. Buyu was made to give up the metal kettle that brewing depended on, and the family carried on as best it could with wooden vessels. The old kettle house remembers the work that the kama once made possible here.
Registered Among Six
The kyu-kamagura was entered on Japan's national register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 25 July 2011, one of six Buyu structures accepted together in the seventieth round of registration. Its registration number is 08-0247. The record notes that the building was repaired in 1994.
The label is registration rather than designation, and the difference is worth keeping straight. National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties are designated, the most strictly protected tier. A registered property comes from the lighter system begun in 1996 for buildings around fifty years old or more that give a place its historical look, with preservation encouraged through continued use. All six Buyu structures share the single criterion that they contribute to the historical landscape of the country.
A Building of Two Parts
The old kettle house is a single-storey dozo, an earthen-walled structure, with a footprint of about 60 square metres. Its main block runs roughly 11 metres along the ridge by 5.6 metres deep, east to west, under a gabled roof of flat sangawara pantile. The plastered gable end is shown off broad and tall, the kind of face a kettle house presents when its working interior needs height and clear air.
Attached to the western half of the north side is a second, lower volume: a timber, single-storey cold-storage room running north to south, about 8.9 metres by 3.6 metres, built in the exposed-post shinkabe manner. The contrast gives the building a varied outline, the high plastered gable of the old kettle house set against the low ridge of the cold room beside it. Below ground, the kettle area connects to the brick chimney that still rises nearby, so the two registered structures share a working history that is not obvious from the street.
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Q&A
- Why is it called the old kettle house?
- Kama means the large kettle used to steam rice for brewing, and kura means storehouse. The building housed the kettle work. The prefix kyu, former, reflects that this was the earlier kettle area; the brewery also recalls that its metal kettle was requisitioned during the Second World War and replaced for a time by wooden vessels.
- When was it built and repaired?
- The national record dates the building to 1904, the thirty-seventh year of Meiji, and notes a repair in 1994. That makes it one of the earlier Meiji-era structures on the brewery grounds.
- What is the lower attached part?
- It is a timber cold-storage room added to the north side, lower than the main block and built with exposed posts. The pairing of the tall plastered gable and the low cold room gives the building its distinctive double profile.
- Can I visit?
- This is part of a working brewery. Paid guided tours have been offered before, but the latest notice lists them as suspended, so please check the official Buyu website. The building stands within the grounds rather than on the street frontage.
- Where is Buyu, and what is the town known for?
- The brewery is in the Uramachi area of central Yuki, about a 10 to 15 minute walk from JR Yuki Station on the Mito Line. Yuki is the home of Yuki-tsumugi silk, listed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2010, and a town of preserved storehouses.
Basic Information
| Name | Buyu Kyu-Kamagura (old kettle storehouse) |
|---|---|
| Location | 144 Uramachi, Oaza Yuki, Yuki City, Ibaraki Prefecture |
| Category | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Registered | 25 July 2011 (registration no. 08-0247) |
| Criterion | Contributing to the historical landscape of the nation |
| Date | 1904 (Meiji 37); repaired 1994 |
| Structure | Earthen-walled (dozo), single storey, tiled roof, building area approx. 60 m², with cold-storage room |
| Count | 1 building |
| Owner | Buyu Co., Ltd. |
| Access | Approx. 10-15 min walk from JR Yuki Station (Mito Line) |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs) — Buyu Kyu-Kamagura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008627
- Yuki City Official Website — Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Buyu)
- https://www.city.yuki.lg.jp/kosodate-kyouiku/shougaigakushuu/bunkazai/bunkazai/tourokuyuukei/page003240.html
- Buyu Co., Ltd. — History
- https://buyu.jp/history/
Last verified: 2026.06.25