Higashi Brewery Tool Storehouse

Higashi Brewery Tool Storehouse: Dragon and Tiger in Stone

The Higashi Brewery Tool Storehouse (東酒造場道具蔵, Higashi Shuzōjō Dōgugura) is a stone-clad storehouse built in 1948 on the north side 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 stands east of the main house and measures 7.7 meters by 5.9 meters, with a building area of 84 square meters. The frame is wooden, 2 storeys with a single-storey section, under a gabled roof of pantiles. On the south side is a kuramae, a roofed work space in front of the storehouse door.

As the name suggests, it appears to have been built to hold brewing equipment. With the Back Entrance gate between it and the main house, it closes the eastern end of the north side.

Why the Tool Storehouse Was Registered

The Higashi Brewery Tool Storehouse was registered under the criterion for buildings that serve as a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it a fine example of a carefully decorated stone storehouse.

Behind the timber frame, the outer walls are built up of cut stone. Western touches such as semicircular arches frame the openings, and between the upper and lower windows are carvings of a dragon and a tiger. European arches and an East Asian emblem of good fortune share the same wall.

A feature on the Japan Heritage portal also shows the dragon and tiger on the side of the Tool Storehouse. Within Komatsu's Japan Heritage story, which includes the Higashi stone storehouses, this is the building that catches the eye for its ornament.

What to Look For

Look at the wall between the stacked windows. The dragon and the tiger are carved into the stone there, linking the ground-floor and upper-floor openings.

Do not miss the round arches at the openings. The Middle Storehouse on the south edge has an arched doorway too, a sign that the postwar builders at Higashi used the same Western device on more than one building.

Just to the west is the Back Entrance, a light Japanese-style Yakuimon gate. The Agency itself presents that gate as a deliberate contrast to the Western-flavored Tool Storehouse, and seeing the two side by side makes the point.

Seeing the Higashi Brewery Tool Storehouse

The Higashi Brewery Tool Storehouse stands on the north side of the compound, so you need to be inside the property to see the carvings up close. How much you can see, including the interior, depends on the reserved tour offered by the brewery.

If you want to photograph the carvings, ask when you book. Directions and booking details are on the Higashi Brewery page.