What the Ise Kawasaki Merchant Museum Cider Filtration Facility Is
The Ise Kawasaki Merchant Museum Cider Filtration Facility is a reinforced concrete structure of the early Showa period in the Kawasaki district of Ise City, Mie Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 20 November 2001. It covers 3.0 square metres, measures 2.5 metres across the front and 1.2 metres deep, and stands about 6 metres high, near the rear west gate of the old Ogawa premises.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs classifies it not as a building but as a structure of another kind. It is the only one of the 12 listed items here that was never meant to be entered: a narrow tower, open at the base, with its upper part formed as a tank.
Why It Was Listed
The criterion is difficulty of reproduction, and the Ise Kawasaki Merchant Museum Cider Filtration Facility is the only item on the site listed under it. The other eleven were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape or as models of design. This one was kept because, once gone, it could not be made again.
Making cider requires filtering the water until it runs clear. Putting the tank high and letting gravity do the work moves water without machinery. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the tower, together with the inspection room, as one of the few remaining reminders of cider production here.
What to Look For
Two segmental arches open across the base. A segmental arch is a shallower curve than a semicircle, used where height is limited, and finding a pair of them at the foot of a tower about 6 metres tall fixes the shape of the thing in the memory.
The upper section is the tank. From outside it reads as a plain box, but water stood inside it. Raising 6 metres over a footprint 2.5 metres by 1.2 makes the tower look taller than the figures suggest.
Visiting
This is a structure rather than a building, and there is no interior to enter, so viewing is from outside. It stands near the rear west gate, so walking the western edge of the site brings you to it.
Because both the arched base and the outline of the tank are worth seeing, step back far enough to take in the whole. The tower is slender, which means hunting for an angle where it does not disappear against the buildings behind. Ask at museum reception about photography.
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Q&A
- What is the Ise Kawasaki Merchant Museum Cider Filtration Facility?
- A reinforced concrete tower from the years when Ogawa Shoten produced cider, open at the base and formed as a water tank at the top.
- How big is the Ise Kawasaki Merchant Museum Cider Filtration Facility?
- It covers 3.0 square metres, 2.5 metres wide by 1.2 metres deep, and stands about 6 metres high. It is the smallest of the 12 listed items at the site.
- Why is its registration criterion different from the other buildings?
- It was listed for difficulty of reproduction, the only item here under that criterion. The other eleven were registered for landscape contribution or as models of design.
- What is the most distinctive feature?
- The pair of segmental arches across the base, a shallower curve than a semicircle, set only at the foot of the tower.
- When was the Ise Kawasaki Merchant Museum Cider Filtration Facility registered?
- On 20 November 2001, under number 24-0039, on the same day as the reception room and anteroom.
Basic Information
| Name | Ise Kawasaki Merchant Museum Cider Filtration Facility |
|---|---|
| Location | 2-25-32 Kawasaki, Ise City, Mie Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered on 20 November 2001 (Heisei 13) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Reinforced concrete; building area 3.0 square metres; 2.5 metres wide, 1.2 metres deep, about 6 metres high |
| Owner | Ise City |
| Public Access | Exterior only; interior closed (Ise Kawasaki Merchant Museum, adult admission 350 yen; closed Tuesdays) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: 伊勢河崎商人館サイダーろ過施設
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002548
- Ise City cultural property page: 伊勢河崎商人館サイダーろ過施設
- https://www.city.ise.mie.jp/cul_spo_edu/culture/bunkazai_shiseki/bunkazai/yukei/1005925.html
- Ise City: Ise Kawasaki Merchant Museum, outline and management
- https://www.city.ise.mie.jp/cul_spo_edu/culture/shisetsu/syouninkan/1005012.html
- Ise City: Ise Kawasaki Merchant Museum facility guide
- https://www.city.ise.mie.jp/cul_spo_edu/culture/shisetsu/syouninkan/index.html
Last verified: 2026.09.14
