Matsuo Sake Brewery North Sake Storehouse

A Two-Storey Storehouse Built as a Koji Room

The Matsuo Sake Brewery North Sake Storehouse (松尾酒造北酒蔵, Matsuo Shuzō Kita-sakagura) is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri earthen storehouse of the early Meiji period at Matsuo Sake Brewery in Nishihonmachi, Tosayamada-cho, Kami City, Kochi Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on July 1, 2003. It has a building area of 107 square meters, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs records that it was built as a Kojimuro, the warm room where mold is grown on steamed rice to make koji.

The brewery was founded in 1873. Of the six listed structures on the lot, only this storehouse and the west sake storehouse are dated to the early Meiji years. It stands south of the main house, its ridge running north to south along the east edge of the property.

An Eight-Bay Wall Along the Road

It measures 8 Ken along the ridge by 3 ken across (Harima). Taking one ken as about 1.82 meters, that is roughly 14.5 meters long and 5.5 meters deep. The roof is gabled (Kirizuma-zukuri) and laid with pantiles.

The walls change finish halfway up: vertical boards (Tateita-bari) on the ground floor, white Shikkui lime plaster on the upper floor, and boards again over the gable bargeboards. Because the long side runs right along the road, anyone walking past sees a band of timber topped by some 14.5 meters of white plaster.

Thick earthen walls on every side make a dozo-zukuri building a good container for a room that must hold a steady temperature, which is what koji making requires. The Agency's note does not say how the two floors were divided.

Why It Was Registered

The Matsuo Sake Brewery North Sake Storehouse was registered as number 39-0076 for contributing to the historic landscape of the nation. The Agency singles out the way its exterior gives the east road the look of a working brewery street.

From the road, the brick wall adjoins it to the north and the gable of the south sake storehouse follows to the south. The Agency's note on the brick wall also remarks on how the red brick sets off this storehouse's white plaster. The boarded lower wall is repeated on the east face of the early Taisho south storehouse, so two buildings of different dates read as one continuous line of storehouses.

Seeing the North Sake Storehouse

The Matsuo Sake Brewery North Sake Storehouse faces the east road, and its exterior can be seen from the public street. Stand on the far side of the road to take in the whole 8-ken wall; the line between boards and plaster shows best in low afternoon light.

The interior is open only on the brewery's weekday tours, booked in advance. The brewery does not publish which storehouses the tour enters, and whether this building is still used as a koji room could not be confirmed, so ask when you book. Check photography rules at the same time.