Maruo Brewery West Miso Storehouse

What the Maruo Brewery West Miso Storehouse is

The Maruo Brewery West Miso Storehouse (丸尾醸造所西味噌蔵, Maruo Jōzōsho Nishi Misogura) is a single-story timber storehouse of the middle Taishō era in Enai, Kotohira-chō, Kagawa Prefecture, enlarged in the early Shōwa era and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2005.

The Maruo Brewery West Miso Storehouse sits on the brewery's southern plot, across a narrow lane from the northern plot. Its address, 90-3 Hataoka, differs from the lot number of the other three buildings. With a building area of 248 square meters, it is the largest of the four registered buildings.

It is called a miso storehouse, but the Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that it began as a moromi storehouse, where the fermenting mash for soy sauce was left to mature.

Why the Maruo Brewery West Miso Storehouse was registered

The Maruo Brewery West Miso Storehouse was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape.

It shows its north gable end to the lane. The Agency writes that, together with the raw material storehouse on the northern plot, it gives the lane the look peculiar to a brewery. One step off the street, brewery storehouses face each other from both sides of the passage.

Two roof frames in the Maruo Brewery West Miso Storehouse

Although registered as one building, the Maruo Brewery West Miso Storehouse is in fact two storehouses standing side by side, east and west. Each measures 7 bays (about 13 meters) by 5 bays (about 9 meters), with a north-south ridge under a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles.

From outside the pair look much alike, but the frames holding up their roofs differ. The eastern storehouse uses a traditional Japanese Wagoya frame, with short posts set on the beams, while the western one uses a Western Yōgoya frame built of triangulated trusses. Side by side, the two buildings set the Japanese and Western methods next to each other.

The storehouse dates from the middle Taishō era, with an enlargement in the early Shōwa era. The Agency's note does not say which of the two buildings belongs to which phase.

Visiting the Maruo Brewery West Miso Storehouse

The Maruo Brewery West Miso Storehouse is in use at a working brewery, and we found no notice of interior openings. The difference in roof frames can only be seen inside, and no viewing is offered. From the lane you can see the two north gable ends standing together. No photography policy has been published; take care not to block the lane. Directions are on the Maruo Brewery page.