Matsuoka Family Residence North Sake Brewery

The Largest Storehouse, at the Back

The Matsuoka Family Residence North Sake Brewery (松岡家住宅北酒蔵, Kita Sakagura) is a two-storey earthen-walled Dozo-zukuri sake storehouse built in the early Taishō era in the Matsuoka compound in Hongō, Hidaka Village, Kōchi Prefecture, and registered as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 2 March 2004. It adjoins the north side of the Pressing House at the very back of the site.

It measures 8 bays by 4 bays and covers 128 square meters. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls the Matsuoka Family Residence North Sake Brewery the largest storehouse on the property. The Pressing House has a bigger footprint, but as a true earthen-walled storehouse this one is the largest.

Its ridge runs east to west under a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of pantiles, entered on the long side in the Hirairi manner. It belongs to the first phase of the brewery, built in early Taishō along with the Pressing House.

Earthen Walls and Board Skirting

The walls of the Matsuoka Family Residence North Sake Brewery are earthen render, without the white lime finish of the more public buildings. Only the north face is different: its lower wall is clad in boards over paneling and stands on a row of stones. The north edge of the site sees little sun and takes the worst of the rain and damp, and the boards protect the base of the wall.

The roof is laid with hidari-gawara, left-hand pantiles whose interlocking edge runs the opposite way from the common type. The Agency notes that it uses the same tiles as the other breweries. Whatever their dates, the storehouses were roofed alike.

It was listed for its contribution to the historic landscape. A sake storehouse, where fermenting tanks stood in rows and temperature had to be held steady, needed thick walls and a great deal of volume. The Matsuoka Family Residence North Sake Brewery preserves the scale that a village brewer required.

Go Around to the North

To see the Matsuoka Family Residence North Sake Brewery properly, walk to its north side rather than approaching from the south. The boarding beneath the earthen wall and the stones set along the foot are where the builders concentrated their defenses.

From the south, the Pressing House obscures much of the building. Walk the length between the two gable ends to feel the 8 bays; the height of the gables and the pitch of the roof give a sense of the volume inside.

Look up and compare the direction of the tiles with those on the Pressing House next door. The same tile runs across both roofs.

Visiting

The Matsuoka Family Residence North Sake Brewery stands at the rear of the grounds and cannot be seen from the lane, and its interior is not open on a regular basis. Visit on an event day or arrange access with the Hidaka Sakagura Association.

Published sources do not say which storehouse now serves as the main hall. Booking details and directions are on the Matsuoka Family Residence page.