What Is the Yokoya Sake Brewery East Storehouse?
The Yokoya Sake Brewery East Storehouse (横屋酒造東蔵, Yokoya Shuzō Higashigura) is a single-storey earthen-walled brewery storehouse in Senmaya, Ichinoseki City, Iwate Prefecture, built in 1902 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2003.
It runs north to south along the eastern side of the brewery: about 44 metres long, 8 metres deep, with a building area of 360 square metres. Its north end meets the Front Storehouse, and it faces the Brewing Storehouse across the yard, completing the U. Of the three great kura, only the Higashigura is a single storey.
Why It Was Registered
A partition divided the East Storehouse into a storage room and a filtering room. Filtering clears the pressed sake of fine sediment, so stored sake could be finished without leaving the building. Read with the Brewing Storehouse for mashing and the Front Storehouse for storage, the plan shows the work flowing along the line of storehouses.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out the way it joins the Front and Brewing storehouses in a continuous U, forming a coherent brewing space; it also shares their construction and finish, so the three read as a single landscape. Its registration number is 03-0046.
What to Look For
Walls of lime plaster and a gabled roof of interlocking pantiles match its two neighbours. Look down, though. The base course is artificial stone in a washed-aggregate finish, small pebbles exposed from a cement matrix, forming a speckled band beneath the white plaster. The Brewing Storehouse, built the same year, has a stone-clad base instead.
At about 44 metres the East Storehouse is nearly as long as the Brewing Storehouse, but only about 8 metres deep, and its single storey makes that length feel even greater.
Visiting
Today the Yokoya Sake Brewery East Storehouse is rented out as an event venue. The Iwate prefectural tourism site lists it as the East Storehouse live hall, holding over 200 people for concerts and similar events, so attending one is the likeliest way to see inside.
On ordinary opening days of the Senmaya Sake no Kura Exchange Facility, the exterior can be viewed from the grounds free of charge. Use of the interior is paid and by reservation, and viewing nearby may be restricted while it is booked. Directions, opening days and hours are on the page for the Yokoya Sake Brewery and Sato Family Residence.
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Q&A
- Can you go inside the Yokoya Sake Brewery East Storehouse?
- It is rented out as an event venue, so attending a concert or other event there is the way in. On ordinary opening days you can view the outside from the grounds free of charge.
- What was the Yokoya Sake Brewery East Storehouse used for?
- Storing and filtering sake. A partition divided it into a storage room and a filtering room.
- What is distinctive about the walls of the Yokoya Sake Brewery East Storehouse?
- The walls are lime plaster over a base of artificial stone in a washed-aggregate finish, unlike the stone-clad base of the Brewing Storehouse built the same year.
- When was the Yokoya Sake Brewery East Storehouse built and registered?
- It was built in 1902 and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on January 31, 2003.
- How big is the Yokoya Sake Brewery East Storehouse?
- It is a single-storey earthen-walled storehouse about 44 metres long and 8 metres deep, with a building area of 360 square metres.
Basic Information
| Name | Yokoya Sake Brewery East Storehouse (横屋酒造東蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 134-1 Kitakata, Senmaya, Senmaya-cho, Ichinoseki City, Iwate Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2003/1/31 (Heisei 15) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Earthen-walled storehouse (dozo-zukuri), single storey, tiled roof, building area 360 square metres (about 44 metres by 8 metres) |
| Owner | Ichinoseki City |
| Public Access | Exterior viewable free of charge from the grounds on opening days; interior not regularly open |
References
- Yokoya Sake Brewery East Storehouse, Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003035
- Senmaya Sake no Kura Exchange Facility (Senmaya Machizukuri Co., Ltd.)
- https://sakenokura.com/wp/kura/
- Senmaya Sake no Kura Exchange Facility (Iwate Tourism Association)
- https://iwatetabi.jp/spots/5535/
Last verified: 2026.09.25
