Higashi Brewery West Storehouse

Higashi Brewery West Storehouse: The Survivor of 1868

The Higashi Brewery West Storehouse (東酒造場西蔵, Higashi Shuzōjō Nishigura) is a 2-storey earthen-walled storehouse built in 1868 and moved in 1902 to the southwest 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 is the only one of the 12 registered buildings that dates from the Edo period. According to the brewery, it came through the 1936 fire that destroyed nearly everything else, and a ridge tablet, or Munafuda, recording its relocation in 1902 still survives. Where it stood before the move is not stated in published sources.

The storehouse measures 9.5 meters by 5.9 meters, with a building area of 56 square meters. It has a gabled roof of pantiles and is entered on the gable side (Tsumairi).

Why the West Storehouse Was Registered

The Higashi Brewery West Storehouse was registered under the criterion for buildings that contribute to the historic landscape of the country.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as the building that brings variety to the run of stone storehouses. Along the south edge the walls are stone from the east corner onward, and the timber-sided West Storehouse, built in the Dozo-zukuri earthen-wall technique, closes the row.

Stone still plays a part. The foundation is laid in Edo-giri dressed blocks, stone frames the windows, and a stone course runs around the eaves: fitting touches for a storehouse in Komatsu, a city long known for its quarries.

What to Look For

Above the stone base, clapboard siding climbs high up the wall. The play between the timber boards and the stone that frames them top and bottom gives the building its look.

The door is on the east side, and the windows open to the south and west. Stone window frames are not common on a storehouse, so take a moment with them. The stone course under the eaves neatly finishes the top edge of the boarding as well.

Look along the row toward the Inspection Room and the stone storehouses and you are seeing a building moved here in the Meiji era beside others raised after the war. The West Storehouse is the one structure on the site that predates the 1936 fire.

Seeing the Higashi Brewery West Storehouse

The Higashi Brewery West Storehouse stands at the southwest corner, and its south wall with windows can be seen from the southern road. Whether you can enter the interior depends on the content of the reserved tour offered by the brewery.

Ask when booking whether the ridge tablet can be seen and whether photography is allowed. Directions and booking details are on the Higashi Brewery page.