About the Sakai Soy Sauce Industry Hydraulic Accumulator Shed
The Sakai Soy Sauce Industry Hydraulic Accumulator Shed (左海醤油工業水圧式蓄量機小屋) is a small single-storey timber shed of the early Showa period at Noma, Shodoshima Town, Shozu District, Kagawa Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on June 25, 2002. Inside is the hydraulic accumulator that powered the moromi presses (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a single-storey timber building with a cedar-bark roof and a building area of 5.8 square metres, with its hydraulic accumulator; registration number 37-0109, with no owner listed. The soy sauce storehouse and hydraulic accumulator shed at Sakai Soy Sauce were registered on the same day (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Why It Was Registered
The Sakai Soy Sauce Industry Hydraulic Accumulator Shed was registered as a structure that would be difficult to reproduce. The Agency for Cultural Affairs values it as a relic of the modernisation of soy sauce brewing, the power unit for the moromi presses.
What to Look For
The shed stands north of the storehouse, running north-south along the main road: a tiny gabled (Kirizuma-zukuri) hut 2.4 metres square (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Inside, a five-tier stack of concrete crib blocks rises and falls along guide rails on the outer posts (Agency for Cultural Affairs): the weighted accumulator stored hydraulic pressure to drive the presses that squeezed the moromi mash.
Sakai Soy Sauce and Hishio no Sato
According to the company, Sakai Soy Sauce Industry long ran a coastal shipping business and began brewing soy sauce around 1857. In 1907 it helped found Marukin Soy Sauce (now Morita Co.), one of Shodoshima's largest brewers, and in 1910 its soy sauce won a bronze medal at the Japan-British Exhibition in London.
According to Shodoshima Town, Hishio no Sato is an area of soy sauce breweries and the houses of families who prospered from the trade; many of the brewery buildings are registered cultural properties and are still used for brewing today.
Visiting the Sakai Soy Sauce Industry Hydraulic Accumulator Shed
Shodoshima Town advises checking with each business before visiting the soy sauce stores of Hishio no Sato. We found no information on interior visits to the Sakai storehouses, so please view them from the main prefectural road. The address is 2121-1 Noma-ko, Shodoshima Town; enquiries to the Shodoshima Town lifelong learning section (0879-82-7015).
Q&A
- When was the Sakai Hydraulic Accumulator Shed built?
- In the early Showa period (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- What is a hydraulic accumulator?
- The power unit for the moromi presses, a five-tier concrete weight raised and lowered on guide rails (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- How big is the Sakai Hydraulic Accumulator Shed?
- A gabled hut 2.4 metres square (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- When was the Sakai Soy Sauce Industry Hydraulic Accumulator Shed registered?
- On June 25, 2002.
- Can you visit the Sakai Soy Sauce Industry Hydraulic Accumulator Shed?
- There is no official information on visits; the exterior can be seen from the road.
Basic Information
| Name | Sakai Soy Sauce Industry Hydraulic Accumulator Shed (左海醤油工業水圧式蓄量機小屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2121-1 Noma-ko, Shodoshima Town, Shozu District, Kagawa Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2002/6/25 (Heisei 14) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | A single-storey timber building with a cedar-bark roof and a building area of 5.8 square metres, with its hydraulic accumulator |
| Owner | Not listed in the national record |
| Public Access | No official information on public access |
References
- Sakai Soy Sauce Industry Hydraulic Accumulator Shed (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00002841
- Sakai Soy Sauce Industry (official website)
- https://sakai-syouyu.info/
- Modern industrial heritage of Hishio no Sato (Shodoshima Town)
- https://www.town.shodoshima.lg.jp/gyousei/kakuka/shogaigakushuka/2/1/3151.html
Last verified: 2026.10.08
