Yamasan Soy Sauce

About Yamasan Soy Sauce

Yamasan Soy Sauce (ヤマサン醤油) is a soy sauce brewery in Umaki, Shodoshima-cho, Kagawa Prefecture, founded in 1846, and 16 of its buildings, 11 in the brewery and 5 in the brewing family's Shioda residence, are listed as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties. The listings came in three rounds, in 2002, 2003 and 2006.

The southeast coast of Shodoshima, around the head of Uchinomi Bay, has been lined with soy sauce breweries for generations, and the stretch from Umaki to Nouma is still known as Hishio no Sato, the "home of fermented seasonings." Yamasan describes itself as the oldest soy sauce maker still operating on the island. The business was incorporated as a company in 1902.

According to the Shodoshima Town tourism pages, the present buildings went up between the late Meiji and early Showa periods under the second head of the family, Shioda Kamekichi (鹽田龜吉). The Agency for Cultural Affairs database bears this out: the North Soy Sauce Storehouse dates from the late Meiji era, the Shioda main house from 1914, seven brewery buildings including the three-story brewery and the East Koji Storehouse from the Taisho era, and the washing area, the Western-style house, the koji-making gatehouse and the residence's storehouses, annex and gate from the early Showa years. In other words, both the brewery and the family home took their present shape over roughly three decades.

How the Yamasan Soy Sauce Site Is Laid Out

The Shioda family residence sits at the south of the site, and the brewery spreads out to the north of it. Seeing a brewer's house and the brewery itself survive side by side, both listed, is one of the things that sets Yamasan Soy Sauce apart. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records the residence under the Nouma district and the brewery under Umaki, although both carry the lot number Ishii-ko 140-2.

The residence plot runs along the Umaki River on its west side. The 1914 main house stands toward the north of the plot with a detached parlor joined on the west. A nagayamon gatehouse and wall close off the south edge, and along the river the wall rises from a stone embankment. The South Storehouse sits on the river revetment at a bend, the East Annex stands just north of it across a small courtyard garden, and the North Storehouse lines the path that leads from a stone bridge over the river toward the brewery.

Roughly at the center of the works stands the three-story brewery, noticeably taller than the single-story sheds around it. A mashing room and boiler room wrap its west and south sides. To the north, past the pressing shed, the North Soy Sauce Storehouse runs east to west for about 30 ken (some 55 meters), and a barrel shed with an unusual rhombus-shaped plan is attached to its west gable.

East of the three-story building is an open work yard, bounded on its east side by the East Koji Storehouse. In front of that storehouse, at the north and south ends of the yard, are two granite-paved washing areas with wells. Further south, the operations shed and the rice storehouse face each other across the washing area, and a tiny Western-style house, moved here in 1959, stands just south of the boiler room.

Across the road, a long barn joined to a nagayamon gatehouse with its own koji room lines the street. Taken together, the buildings trace the full sequence of traditional brewing: washing the raw materials, growing koji, mixing the mash, pressing and storage.

Registered Buildings of Yamasan Soy Sauce

The group brings together 16 Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, 11 carrying the Yamasan Soy Sauce name and 5 belonging to the Shioda family residence, each listed as a single building.

• Registered on June 25, 2002: the Three-Story Soy Sauce Brewery, the North Soy Sauce Storehouse, the East Koji Storehouse, the Washing Area, and the Shioda residence's Nagayamon Gate and Wall, South Storehouse, East Annex and North Storehouse
• Registered on September 19, 2003: the Pressing Shed, the Mashing Room and Boiler Room, the Rice Storehouse, the Operations Shed, the Barrel Shed, the Western-Style House, and the Shioda Main House and Detached Parlor
• Registered on March 2, 2006: the Koji-Making Nagayamon Gate and Barn

The Western-style house and the Shioda main house were listed as models of design; the other 14 were listed for their contribution to the historic landscape. The town's tourism pages give a total of 18 registered buildings including the residence, which does not match the 16 entries found in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database.

Visiting Yamasan Soy Sauce and Getting There

Yamasan Soy Sauce is a working brewery, not an open site, so you cannot simply walk in. Shodoshima Town says brewery visits are by reservation, with the current head of the family showing guests around. The town lists the moromi storehouse, the koji rooms, the three-story building, the gatehouse, a storehouse and the front garden among the stops.

The program the town promotes pairs the tour with a tasting of soy sauces and olive oils. It costs 1,000 yen per person including a small gift and runs in two slots, 10:00 a.m. to noon and 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Business hours are given as 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., but one town page lists closing days as weekends, national holidays, Obon and the New Year period while another says closing days vary, and neither has been updated since 2020. Call ahead on 0879-82-1014 to confirm current arrangements when you book.

On the island, the Sakate Line of the Shodoshima Olive Bus is the practical choice, and the nearest stop is Umaki. The line links Tonosho Port, Ikeda Port, Kusakabe Port and Sakate Port, so you can ride straight to Umaki from any of them. Kusakabe Port is about 2 kilometers to the west.

Most of the buildings stand inside the brewery grounds. From outside, the ones you can pick out most easily are the three-story brewery, which rises above its neighbors, the koji-making gatehouse along the road, and the Shioda residence's gate and wall on the south edge and along the Umaki River. This is a residential street with working breweries, so if you linger outside before or after a tour, keep clear of delivery vehicles and passing traffic.