Kamebishi Pressing House
West of the main house, across the road on the western plot and facing the main house, stands the pressing house. It was once the main house of another family in the wholesale trade, about 12.3 by 7.2 meters, a gabled tsushi-nikai building in formal hongawara tile. Its east face has been altered, but the west face still holds the look of a merchant townhouse.
The Kamebishi brewery dates to 1753, started by the Okada family in the port town of Hikita. Passed down over eighteen generations across some two hundred and seventy years, it remains the only maker in Japan to keep the traditional mushiro-koji way of preparing koji.
A gabled tsushi-nikai half-story building in formal tile, it was originally another family's merchant house. The street-facing east side was altered when it was turned to brewing use, but the west side keeps much of its townhouse appearance. It now serves as the pressing house, where the fermented moromi is pressed to draw off raw soy sauce.
Why It Matters
This building was once the main house of a different wholesale family. As Kamebishi expanded, it took in a neighboring merchant house and set it to the pressing stage. It carries both Hikita's history as a port town lined with merchant houses and the story of Kamebishi's growth. Pressing is the crucial step that turns the moromi, prepared from mushiro-koji, into liquid soy sauce.
Mushiro-koji spreads the inoculated mix of steamed soybeans and roasted wheat across straw-and-rush mats for several days. Because the mats regulate moisture and keep the temperature even, the koji stays lively in a way machine-made koji does not. Kamebishi is the only brewery in Japan that still works this way.
What to Notice
The buildings share a striking palette: red-ochre bengara walls beneath grey tiled roofs, painted in recent years across the whole site for a unified effect. This band of red gives the streets of Hikita their distinctive character.
Note the townhouse look that survives on the west face. A building that was once another family's home has found a second life as a pressing house. Thinking of soy sauce that begins with mushiro-koji and reaches its pressing here, the building's past and the flow of the method come into alignment.
Visitors can taste and buy soy sauce at the shop, and the tea house serves udon and moromi soft-serve made with Kamebishi's own soy sauce. Because this is a working brewery on private land, most of the buildings are not open to the public, and opening days shift with the brewing season, so it is wise to confirm ahead.
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Q&A
- What is the Kamebishi Pressing House?
- It is one of eighteen buildings at the Kamebishi soy sauce brewery in Hikita, Higashikagawa, Kagawa Prefecture, all registered as Tangible Cultural Properties in 2003. This building dates to the early Meiji, altered in the early Showa period and served as a former merchant house now used to press the moromi.
- What is the mushiro-koji method that Kamebishi keeps?
- It is a way of making koji by spreading inoculated steamed soybeans and roasted wheat on mats woven from rush or rice straw for a few days. The mats regulate moisture and even out the temperature. Kamebishi is the only brewery in Japan that still uses it.
- Where is this building, and how does it relate to the rest of Kamebishi?
- It stands on the western plot at 2132 Hikita, across the road from the main compound at 2174. The brewery is split into two plots by the road, with preparation and koji-making concentrated on the eastern side and much of the moromi storage and pressing on the western side.
- When and why was it designated?
- It was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property on 19 September 2003 under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the nation. The listing recognizes it as part of the historic brewery compound whose red-ochre walls define the Hikita streetscape.
Basic Information
| Name | Kamebishi Pressing House (かめびし圧搾場) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2132 Hikita, Higashikagawa, Kagawa Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure), No. 37-0170 |
| Registered | Registered 19 September 2003 |
| Criterion | Contributing to the historic landscape of the nation |
| Date | early Meiji, altered in the early Showa period |
| Structure | single-story timber structure, tiled roof, building area 88 m2 |
| Count | 1 building |
| Owner | Kamebishi (limited partnership) |
| Access | Working brewery and private property; most buildings not open inside. Shop and tea house on site; hours vary by season. |
References
- 国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003613
- かめびし屋（東かがわ市観光情報サイト）
- https://higashikagawa.net/sightseeing/kamebishiya
- かめびし屋 公式サイト
- https://kamebishi.co.jp/
Last verified: 2026.07.02