Higashi Brewery East Storehouse

Higashi Brewery East Storehouse: Local Tuff Laid Up by Hand

The Higashi Brewery East Storehouse (東酒造場東蔵, Higashi Shuzōjō Higashigura) is a stone sake storehouse built in 1946 at the southeast corner of the Higashi sake brewery in Noda-machi, Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, and it was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on January 8, 2009.

It measures 15 meters by 9.4 meters, with a building area of 139 square meters. The single-storey stone building has a gabled roof of pantiles and is entered from the gable end, the arrangement known as Tsumairi. Among the brewery buildings raised in Kanagaso stone, it carries the earliest date in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database.

The entrance is on the west side, closed by a pair of doors that slide apart. On the other side of that wall is the yeast-starter room of the Workshop, so brewers pass straight from their work area into the storehouse.

Why the East Storehouse Was Registered

The Higashi Brewery East Storehouse was registered under the criterion for buildings that contribute to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency sums it up as a stone storehouse of weight and character.

Its walls are built of Kanagaso stone (観音下石), a tuff quarried in the hills of Kanagaso in Komatsu. The lower courses are dressed in the Edo-giri manner, where a narrow band is cut around the edge of each face so that every block stands out in crisp outline.

Komatsu's Japan Heritage story on local stone culture lists the Higashi stone storehouses among its component properties. The East Storehouse anchors the east end of that stone frontage.

What to Look For

Outside, compare the Edo-giri base with the stonework above it. The most careful dressing sits closest to the ground, giving the wall a firm footing to the eye.

Inside is a single open room with walls finished in white Shikkui plaster. The roof rests on trusses, a Western framing method that uses triangles to span wide spaces; here they carry the full 9.4-meter width. Stone outside and plaster within: that pairing sums up the building.

The Japan Heritage portal notes that the Higashi stone storehouses stay warm in winter and cool in summer, which helps brewers keep temperatures steady.

Seeing the Higashi Brewery East Storehouse

The Higashi Brewery East Storehouse sits at the east end of the south edge, so its stone wall along the southern road is visible from outside the property. It is still a working storehouse, and the interior can be seen only on a reserved tour led by the brewery. Tour dates shift during the brewing season.

Ask about photography inside when you book. Directions and booking details are on the Higashi Brewery page.