The Largest Townhouse of the Hamamachi Post Town
The Tsujun Sake Brewery Store and Main House (通潤酒造店舗及び主屋) is the townhouse of a sake brewer of the early Meiji period in Hamamachi, Yamato Town, Kamimashiki District, Kumamoto Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on October 14, 2021 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The Agency records a two-storey fireproof clay-walled building with a tiled roof and a building area of 327 square metres, altered between 1935 and 1944, in the early 1960s and in 2018; registration number 43-0185.
A Townhouse on the Hyuga Road
The Tsujun Sake Brewery Store and Main House faces the street of Hamamachi, a post town on the Hyuga Okan road (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Behind the hipped-roof shop, the main house is joined at right angles so that its gable shows to the front. The centre of the lean-to roof is raised to form the entrance, and the upper floor has slatted mushiko windows.
Inside, a passage runs down the middle, with the shop and other rooms to the east and the office, then the family rooms of the main house, to the west (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun reported that in December 2025 the brewery again hung a cedar ball from its eaves to announce the new sake, so brewing goes on.
Why It Was Registered
The Agency calls it the largest townhouse of the post town and registered it for its contribution to the historic landscape.
What to Look For
Look for the gable of the main house at the front, the raised entrance in the lean-to roof and the mushiko windows above (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Visiting
It is the shop and home of a working sake brewery. No official information on shop hours or visits was found.
Q&A
- When was it built?
- In the early Meiji period (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- How is it laid out?
- A hipped-roof shop with the main house joined at right angles behind it.
- Why was it registered?
- It is the largest townhouse of the Hamamachi post town.
- Is sake still made here?
- Yes; a cedar ball for the new sake was hung in December 2025.
- When was the Tsujun Sake Brewery Store and Main House registered?
- On October 14, 2021 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Basic Information
| Name | Tsujun Sake Brewery Store and Main House (通潤酒造店舗及び主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 54-1 Hamamachi and other lots, Yamato Town, Kamimashiki District, Kumamoto Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2021/10/14 (Reiwa 3) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Two-storey clay-walled (dozo-zukuri), tiled roof, 327 m² |
| Owner | Not listed in the Agency database |
| Public Access | Brewery shop (no official information on hours) |
References
- Tsujun Sake Brewery Store and Main House (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00014125
- New sake cedar ball at Tsujun Sake Brewery (Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun, December 12, 2025, Japanese)
- https://kumanichi.com/articles/1935866
Last verified: 2026.10.21