The Rice Storehouse at Nagano Meijo
Sake begins with rice, and at the Nagano Meijo brewery in Hachiman, Chikuma, the komegura is where that rice was kept. The storehouse stands near the center of the compound, just west of the main brewing hall, a single-storey earthen-walled building of about 149 square meters roofed today in iron sheeting. It held both unpolished brown rice and the white rice that emerged after milling, the raw material waiting its turn in the brewing year.
The building also records how that milling once happened on site. Old pictorial maps of the grounds show that by the middle of the Meiji period a waterwheel hut stood against the south end of the storehouse, and the rice was polished there using the power of running water. The floor has since been taken up, but the notches left by the floor joists, the oobiki, are still legible in the timber, a quiet trace of the working layout.
Why It Is Protected
The rice storehouse was entered on the national register of Tangible Cultural Properties in December 2014, one of the group of Nagano Meijo buildings recognized for keeping the shape of a rural brewing operation intact. Its structure reaches back to the late Edo period, roughly 1830 to 1868, with a documented renovation in 1916, the fifth year of Taisho.
What makes the komegura valuable is less any single decorative flourish than its evidence of process. Rice milling is the step that determines how much of each grain is polished away before brewing, and a storehouse that once paired storage with a waterwheel mill preserves that stage of the craft in built form. For visitors curious about how sake is actually made, the building fills in a link that is easy to overlook when you only see the finished bottle.
What to Look For
Nagano Meijo traces its founding to 1689, when the Wada family began brewing here, and it remains the sole active sake brewery in Chikuma. The house has committed entirely to junmai brewing, adding no distiller's alcohol, and draws its water from the same system that irrigates the terraced rice fields of Obasute on the hillside above. Its best-known label is Obasute Masamune.
Chikuma promotes this stretch of countryside as the City of the Moon, a Japan Heritage story built around Obasute's long fame as a place for moon viewing. The rice storehouse is one thread in that landscape. Seen from the tour route, its plain earthen walls and broad footprint speak to the sheer volume of grain a busy brewery once moved through in a single season.
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Q&A
- Is the rice storehouse open to visitors?
- It is viewed on the seasonal guided tour of the brewery, held from mid-May to late September by advance booking. The grounds are otherwise a private workplace.
- Was rice really polished here?
- Old maps indicate a waterwheel hut stood at the south end in the mid-Meiji period, where rice was milled by water power. The storehouse held the grain before and after that step.
- Why does the roof look modern?
- The earthen walls are original, but the roof is now iron sheeting, replaced during a renovation recorded in 1916. Such practical updates are common in long-used storehouses.
- What else is worth seeing nearby?
- The Obasute rice terraces above the town, famous for moon viewing, share their water source with the brewery and make a natural pairing with a visit here.
Basic Information
| Name | Nagano Meijo Rice Storehouse (Nagano Meijo Komegura) |
|---|---|
| Location | 272-5 and vicinity, Nakahara, Yawata, Chikuma City, Nagano Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registered 19 December 2014 |
| Structure | Single-storey earthen-walled storehouse, iron-sheet roof, floor area about 149 square meters |
| Date | Late Edo period (1830 to 1868), renovated 1916 |
| Owner | Wada Shuten (operated as Nagano Meijo Co., Ltd.) |
| Access | Guided brewery tour by advance reservation, mid-May to late September |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties — Nagano Meijo Komegura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010293
- Nagano Meijo Co., Ltd. — official site
- https://www.obasute.co.jp/
- Cultural Heritage Online — Nagano Meijo Komegura
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/274296
Last verified: 2026.07.03