The Lees Storehouse at Nagano Meijo
Walk into the Nagano Meijo brewery grounds in Hachiman, in the city of Chikuma, and the kasugura sits close to the middle of the compound, just north of the main brewing hall. It is a single-storey earthen-walled storehouse, a type the Japanese call dozo, roofed in tile and covering about 67 square meters. The plan runs roughly eleven meters along its ridge and a little over six meters across. Inside, the brewery still does what the building was made for: aging sake kasu, the firm cake of rice lees left behind once the finished sake has been pressed off.
There is a small architectural secret in the walls. What now reads as one long storehouse began as two separate buildings placed end to end. During the middle Meiji years the partition between them was removed and the pair merged into the single interior you step into today. Look for the change in rhythm along the wall and the seam gives itself away.
Why It Is Protected
In December 2014 the storehouse was entered on the national register of Tangible Cultural Properties, listed alongside the other surviving buildings of the Nagano Meijo compound for the way they preserve the working landscape of a rural sake brewery. The core fabric dates to the closing decades of the Edo period, between roughly 1830 and 1868, with the mid-Meiji remodeling that joined the two halves carried out in the 1880s and 1890s.
The exterior tells you how a country storehouse was built to last without pretension. The walls carry a middle-coat plaster finish rather than a polished white surface, and the west face is protected at its base by a band of horizontal weatherboard, a practical shield against driven rain and splashback. Sake kasu itself is worth knowing about. Far from a waste product, the pressed lees are prized in Japanese kitchens for pickling vegetables, thickening winter soups, and brewing the warm, lightly sweet drink called amazake.
What to Look For
Nagano Meijo was founded by the Wada family in 1689 and remains the only working sake brewery in Chikuma, run today by the fifteenth generation. Everything it makes now is junmai, brewed without added distiller's alcohol, using spring water drawn from the same source that feeds the celebrated rice terraces of Obasute on the slopes above. Its flagship label, Obasute Masamune, has carried the brewery's name since the late Edo period.
Standing before the lees storehouse, you catch the faintly sweet, yeasty note of maturing kasu drifting from the doorway when the building is open. This is a private working brewery rather than a museum, so the kasugura is normally seen from the outside on the seasonal guided tour. Time a visit to the brewery shop in the front office and you can taste and carry home the product that begins its life here.
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Q&A
- Can I go inside the lees storehouse?
- The building is part of a working brewery. Interiors are shown only on the guided brewery tour, which runs from mid-May to late September and must be booked in advance, usually by email.
- What exactly is sake kasu?
- It is the pressed rice lees left over after fresh sake is separated from the mash. It is used in cooking, for pickles, in soups, and to make amazake, a mildly sweet fermented drink.
- How do I reach the brewery?
- It is about ten minutes by taxi from Obasute Station on the JR Shinonoi Line, or fifteen minutes from Yashiro Station on the Shinano Railway. By car it is roughly ten minutes from the Obasute smart interchange.
- Can I buy the sake on site?
- Yes. The office building at the front of the grounds houses the brewery's own shop, where the junmai range including Obasute Masamune is sold.
Basic Information
| Name | Nagano Meijo Lees Storehouse (Nagano Meijo Kasugura) |
|---|---|
| Location | 272-1 and vicinity, Nakahara, Yawata, Chikuma City, Nagano Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registered 19 December 2014 |
| Structure | Single-storey earthen-walled storehouse, tiled roof, floor area about 67 square meters |
| Date | Late Edo period (1830 to 1868), renovated mid-Meiji (1883 to 1897) |
| 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 Kasugura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010294
- Nagano Meijo Co., Ltd. — official site
- https://www.obasute.co.jp/
- Chikuma City — list of cultural properties
- https://www.city.chikuma.lg.jp/soshiki/rekishibunkazaicenter/rekishi_bunkazai/2/1875.html
Last verified: 2026.07.03