Where the Soy Sauce Was Pressed
The Omori Soy Sauce Brewery Pressing Shed and Work Area (大森醤油醸造所槽場及び操作場) is a single-storey timber work building of the early Taisho period, east of the koji house at a soy sauce brewery at Obe, Tonosho Town, Shozu District, Kagawa Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on March 2, 2004 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The Agency for Cultural Affairs records single-storey timber construction with a tiled roof and a building area of 103 square metres, registration number 37-0205.
Pressing the Moromi
According to the Shodoshima Soy Sauce Cooperative, soy sauce making on the island is traditionally said to date from the 1590s, and the island, long a major salt producer, turned to soy sauce when salt fell into oversupply in the late Edo period. The Japan Tourism Agency notes that up to 400 breweries operated on Shodoshima around the turn of the 20th century, of which about 20 still work today.
The funaba, or pressing shed, is where the matured mash (moromi) is pressed to draw off soy sauce. The Omori Soy Sauce Brewery Pressing Shed and Work Area stands between the koji house to the west and the brewing storehouses to the east, with a former boiler room attached on the north (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Value as a Registered Cultural Property
The Omori Soy Sauce Brewery Pressing Shed and Work Area was registered as a structure contributing to the historic landscape of the country. With the koji house and brewing storehouses, it preserves the layout of a Taisho-era soy sauce brewery on Shodoshima (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
What to Look For
The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the Omori Soy Sauce Brewery Pressing Shed and Work Area on an east-west axis, 5 by 3 bays, gabled and pan-tiled, with the former boiler room of 5 by 1.5 bays along the north side and a raking-beam roof frame inside.
Outside, the Omori Soy Sauce Brewery Pressing Shed and Work Area has vertical boarding below and horizontal slatted windows known as iwaku-mado above, with curved brackets under the eaves on the north side (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Visiting
No public access information has been confirmed for the brewery; please view it only from the road without entering the premises. The address is 3272-1 Obe, Tonosho Town.
See the group page Omori Soy Sauce Brewery for all three buildings.
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- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Omori Soy Sauce Brewery Pressing Shed and Work Area
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Q&A
- When was it built?
- In the early Taisho period (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- What is a pressing shed?
- The place where matured mash is pressed to draw off soy sauce.
- What are iwaku-mado?
- The horizontal slatted windows along the upper walls (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- What is on the north side?
- A former boiler room of 5 by 1.5 bays (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- When was the Omori Soy Sauce Brewery Pressing Shed and Work Area registered?
- On March 2, 2004.
Basic Information
| Name | Omori Soy Sauce Brewery Pressing Shed and Work Area (大森醤油醸造所槽場及び操作場) |
|---|---|
| Location | 3272-1 Obe, Tonosho Town, Shozu District, Kagawa Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2004/03/02 (Heisei 16) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, single storey, tiled roof, building area 103 square metres |
| Owner | Not listed in the national database |
| Public Access | No public access information |
References
- Omori Soy Sauce Brewery Pressing Shed and Work Area (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00004040
- Omori Soy Sauce Brewery Brewing Storehouses (Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00004041
- Omori Soy Sauce Brewery Koji House (Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00004039
- History of Shodoshima Soy Sauce (Shodoshima Soy Sauce Cooperative)
- https://shima-shoyu.com/history/
- Shodoshima Soy Sauce: An Aromatic Tradition (Japan Tourism Agency Multilingual Database)
- https://www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db/en/R2-01894.html
Last verified: 2026.10.11
