Higashi Brewery Middle Storehouse

Higashi Brewery Middle Storehouse: Timber Inside, Stone Outside

The Higashi Brewery Middle Storehouse (東酒造場中蔵, Higashi Shuzōjō Nakagura) is a 2-storey timber-framed sake storehouse built in 1949 on the south edge 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.

Standing just west of the East Storehouse, it measures 19 meters by 9.5 meters, with a building area of 178 square meters, under a gabled roof of pantiles. At 19 meters, it is the longest of the registered storehouses at the brewery.

The frame is wood, but Kanagaso stone is stacked up outside the posts to form the outer walls, and the interior is finished in white Shikkui plaster. It reads as a stone storehouse from the road while being a timber building underneath, and that double nature is the key to the Middle Storehouse.

Why the Middle Storehouse Was Registered

The Higashi Brewery Middle Storehouse was registered under the criterion for buildings that serve as a model of design. Its stone-built neighbor to the east was registered for its contribution to the landscape; the Middle Storehouse was recognized for its design choices.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that the two share a common exterior, then names two differences. The hachimaki, the thickened band of wall just under the eaves, is simplified here. And above the lintel on the outside of the doorway sits a semicircular arch with a keystone.

Two storehouses on the same lot, built 3 years apart from the same stone: one solid masonry, the other timber clad in stone and finished with a Western flourish. The contrast shows builders trying different answers during the postwar rebuilding.

What to Look For

Look first for the round arch over the doorway. A keystone at the crown is a textbook detail of European masonry, and it sits here on a storehouse with a thoroughly Japanese gabled roof.

Then compare the eaves with those of the East Storehouse next door. With the hachimaki pared back, the Middle Storehouse has a cleaner roofline, and seeing the two in sequence makes the Agency's point easy to grasp.

The long 19-meter wall gives this building real weight in the stone frontage along the south edge, the stretch the Japan Heritage portal describes as a row of 5 stone storehouses.

Seeing the Higashi Brewery Middle Storehouse

The Higashi Brewery Middle Storehouse stands in the stone row along the south edge, and its wall can be seen from the southern road. The interior is open only on reserved tours led by the brewery, and tour dates shift during the brewing season.

When booking, ask where the arched doorway can be viewed and whether photography is allowed inside. Directions and booking details are on the Higashi Brewery page.