The Long Working Heart of the Brewery
Joined to the south face of the Middle Storehouse and running north to south, the East Storehouse (Higashigura) is the largest of the group and the one built to work hardest. It measures about ten ken along its length by four ken deep, a long two-storey structure with a pantile roof (sangawara-buki) and a gabled form. Its building area is around 140 square metres, and it served as the soy-sauce brewing storehouse (shoyu jozo-gura).
It dates from around 1877, its registration number 20-0124. Of the six Miharaya buildings, the record singles it out as the most commanding presence in the run of storehouses along the lane.
Reading the East Wall
The lower part of the east wall is finished, like the Middle Storehouse, in sasarago-shitami, a horizontal boarding held in place by thin vertical battens, a practical skirt that protects the earthen wall from splash and wear. Above it the plaster rises to the eaves.
The south gable is where the builder allowed himself some formality. There, heavy double-leaf shutters (kannon-tobira, named for the hinged doors of a Buddhist altar) frame windows set in symmetrical pairs. On a working warehouse this careful balance is a small act of pride, and it repays the visitor who looks up at the gable end.
Scale as a Reason for Registration
When the Miharaya group was registered in 2003 for its part in the historic landscape, the East Storehouse contributed the sheer mass that gives the alley its weight. It is the long, dark plane against which the smaller storehouses and the shop are measured.
Behind its walls the work of brewing soy sauce went on, and the building’s length is a direct record of that trade’s scale in Meiji-era Nagano. Seen from Uchiwaya-koji, the East Storehouse is the piece that tells you this was a place of making, not only of selling.
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Questions & Answers
- What was the East Storehouse used for?
- It was the soy-sauce brewing storehouse of Miharaya, the largest and most active of the group’s buildings.
- How big is it?
- About 140 square metres, roughly ten ken long by four deep, on two storeys with a pantile gabled roof—the biggest of the six Miharaya buildings.
- What are kannon-tobira?
- Heavy double-leaf shutters, named after the hinged doors of a Buddhist altar. On the East Storehouse they frame symmetrical paired windows on the south gable.
- When was it built?
- Around 1877, in the same phase as the Middle, West and South storehouses.
- Can visitors go inside?
- No; it is a private working storehouse. Its scale and gable are best appreciated from the lane outside.
Basic Information
| Name | Miharaya Shoten Higashigura (East Storehouse) |
|---|---|
| Location | 879-1 Sakuraeda-cho, Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (registration no. 20-0124) |
| Registered | 18 March 2003 (gazetted 8 April 2003) |
| Count | 1 building |
| Structure | Earthen-walled, two storeys, pantile roof; building area approx. 140 m2 |
| Date | Around 1877 (early Meiji era) |
| Use | Soy-sauce brewing storehouse |
| Owner | Miharaya Co., Ltd. |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database — Miharaya Shoten East Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003237
- Nagano City — List of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties
- https://www.city.nagano.nagano.jp/n151100/contents/p002914.html
- Miharaya Co., Ltd. — official site
- https://miharaya.co.jp/
Last verified: 2026.07.05