Former Yamada Family Residence Sake Shop

What the Former Yamada Family Residence Sake Shop is

The Former Yamada Family Residence Sake Shop (旧山田家住宅酒売場, Kyū-Yamada-ke Jūtaku Sakeuriba) is a mid-Meiji 2-storey timber building in Ebe, Nakano City, Nagano Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on November 29, 2016. It stands north to south on the west edge of the estate, against the southern end of the Nikengura storehouse.

It is timber, 2 storeys, roofed in pantiles (Sangawara-buki), with a building area of 128 m². The Yamada family began brewing sake in the Kanbun era (1661 to 1673) and kept at it until 1912, the first year of Taisho. This building was put up as their sake shop.

Why the Sake Shop was registered

The Former Yamada Family Residence Sake Shop was registered for contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that among the Yamada outbuildings, whose outer walls are all plastered over, it alone shows its timber frame (Shinkabe), adding variety to the row.

Almost every building along the north and west sides wraps its posts in thick plaster. At the southern end of that line, the sake shop leaves its posts and beams on view. It was built to sell to customers rather than to store goods, and that difference is worth keeping in mind as you look at the wall.

Its use changed with the family's fortunes. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, once brewing stopped it served as a silkworm-rearing room until before the Second World War, and later as a warehouse and for other purposes. Nakano City's guide puts the end of its silkworm years in the early Showa period. The building follows the family's shift from sake to sericulture.

What to look for

Timber frame on show

From the city road to the west you can see exactly where the plain white wall of the Nikengura meets the exposed frame of the sake shop. The roofline carries on; only the wall changes character.

A step up in height

Along the west side, the Corner Storehouse and the Rokkengura and Nikengura are single-storey stores, and only the sake shop at the southern end rises to 2 storeys. Walk south along the road and the row ends with a clear step up.

Seeing the Sake Shop

The Former Yamada Family Residence Sake Shop is not on Nakano City's list of buildings open to visitors. Assume the interior is closed and view the exterior from the city road to the west.

Ask at reception how much of it can be seen from inside the grounds and whether any opening is planned. Opening hours, admission and directions are on the Former Yamada Family Residence page.