Matsuoka Family Residence Pressing House

Where Sake Was Pressed

The Matsuoka Family Residence Pressing House (松岡家住宅槽場, funaba) is a two-storey brewing building erected in the early Taishō era in the Matsuoka sake brewer's compound in Hongō, Hidaka Village, Kōchi Prefecture, and registered as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2 March 2004. It runs east to west immediately beside the Main House, at the heart of the brewery.

It measures 8 bays by 3 bays and covers 189 square meters, the largest footprint of the twelve listed structures at the Matsuoka Family Residence. The roof is a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri form in pantiles, entered on the long side in the Hirairi manner, with a lean-to projecting on the south.

A funaba is the room where fermented mash, moromi, is packed into cloth bags, laid in a wooden box called a fune, and pressed to separate the sake from the lees. It is the last step in brewing, and in the Matsuoka Family Residence Pressing House the eastern end of the building was given over to it.

Two Stages Under One Roof

The western end of the Matsuoka Family Residence Pressing House holds a koji room 3 bays square. This is where steamed rice was inoculated with koji mold and kept warm and humid while the mold grew, so its walls and ceiling were built thick. One of the first stages of brewing and the very last sat side by side.

The finishes change from face to face. The front is rendered in Tosa plaster; the gable ends were left as bare earthen wall. The roof uses hidari-gawara, left-hand pantiles whose interlocking edge runs opposite to the usual type. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls these tiles a feature of the building and notes the same tiles on the North and West Sake Breweries.

The Agency's own record describes the structure two ways: "earthen storehouse construction" in the structure field, "timber" in the description. There is no conflict; Dozo-zukuri means a timber frame with thick earthen walls. The building was listed for its contribution to the historic landscape.

The Entrance to the Hall

For most visitors the Matsuoka Family Residence Pressing House is the first building they walk into. According to the prefecture's feature, the entrance to the Hidaka Sakagura Hall is the space where sake used to be pressed.

Standing inside, take in the height of the ceiling and the spread of the floor. Pressing needed room to set down a heavy fune and to collect the sake running from it. The conversion to a hall has not changed those proportions.

Outside, compare the plastered front with the earthen gable, then look up at the direction of the tiles. Notice, too, how close the building stands to the Main House. The center of production was a few steps from the family's front door.

Visiting

The Matsuoka Family Residence Pressing House is not open on a regular basis, but because it serves as the hall entrance, it is the building visitors are most likely to see inside on event days. At other times, contact the Hidaka Sakagura Association in advance.

It stands within the grounds and is barely visible from the lane. Booking details and directions are on the Matsuoka Family Residence page.