About the Sakai Soy Sauce Industry Soy Sauce Storehouse
The Sakai Soy Sauce Industry Soy Sauce Storehouse (左海醤油工業醤油蔵) is a single-storey earthen soy sauce store of the Meiji era at Noma, Shodoshima Town, Shozu District, Kagawa Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on June 25, 2002. It is the core building of the company's hill works (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a single-storey earthen-walled building with a tiled roof and a building area of 277 square metres; registration number 37-0108, 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 Soy Sauce Storehouse was registered as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that it faces the storehouse of the former shore works across the road, together recalling the bustle of soy sauce brewing at its height.
What to Look For
The storehouse runs north-south along the east side of the main prefectural road: a gabled (Kirizuma-zukuri) pantiled block 17 metres by 11, joined at its south end to a second gabled block 9 metres by 10 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Across the road stands the storehouse of the former shore works (Agency for Cultural Affairs); soy sauce stores lining both sides of the street recall the heyday of brewing on Shodoshima.
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 Soy Sauce Storehouse
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 Soy Sauce Storehouse built?
- In the Meiji era (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- How big is the Sakai Soy Sauce Storehouse?
- A 17-by-11-metre gabled block joined to a 9-by-10-metre one (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- What faces the Sakai Soy Sauce Storehouse?
- The storehouse of the former shore works, across the road (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- When was the Sakai Soy Sauce Industry Soy Sauce Storehouse registered?
- On June 25, 2002.
- Can you visit the Sakai Soy Sauce Industry Soy Sauce Storehouse?
- There is no official information on visits; the exterior can be seen from the road.
Basic Information
| Name | Sakai Soy Sauce Industry Soy Sauce Storehouse (左海醤油工業醤油蔵) |
|---|---|
| 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 earthen-walled building with a tiled roof and a building area of 277 square metres |
| Owner | Not listed in the national record |
| Public Access | No official information on public access |
References
- Sakai Soy Sauce Industry Soy Sauce Storehouse (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00002840
- 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
