Shioya Brewery Grain Storehouse

What the Shioya Brewery Grain Storehouse Is

The Shioya Brewery Grain Storehouse (塩屋醸造穀蔵, Shioya Jōzō Kokugura) is an early Meiji grain store at 537 Oaza Suzaka, Suzaka City, Nagano Prefecture, standing at the west edge of the Shioya miso and soy sauce brewery, and was listed as Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 15 May 2007. It is a single-storey Dozo-zukuri storehouse with a gabled pantile roof, covering 59 square metres.

It faces east, just south of the Tezukuri Storehouse, and measures 4 and a half by 4 bays. Inside, the posts are left exposed in the Shinkabe manner, and the roof is carried on a traditional Japanese frame, Wagoya, with very long beams.

As the name says, it once held soybeans and other grain for the miso. The head of the family says stock-keeping notes from those days are still written on the walls. Since raw materials moved to a newer warehouse, it has become a rental space for concerts and exhibitions.

Why It Was Listed

The Shioya Brewery Grain Storehouse was listed for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs mentions the roofed canopy across the full width of the front with two windows set above it, and the care taken throughout the building, and credits it with giving order to the premises.

It is a plastered storehouse outside, but inside the frame is on show, and the beams are cut from long, heavy timbers. A building meant to take the weight of stacked grain was framed without economy.

The notes on the walls show the storehouse working as an extension of the counting-house. What came in, how much, when it went out: the traffic of raw materials, written straight onto the plaster, is a business record separate from any record of the building itself.

What to Look For

Outside, look at how the front is composed. The Shioya Brewery Grain Storehouse runs a canopy across its whole width and sets two windows in the wall above. The result is close to symmetrical, and next to the Tezukuri and Moromi storehouses on the same west edge, this is clearly the one whose front was designed with some care.

If you get inside, look up. The long beams of the Japanese roof frame are fully exposed. The owners keep a compact Yamaha grand piano here and rent the room for about 50 people. The family head says a timber storehouse has a good sound, and it has hosted piano recitals and one-person theatre.

In one corner are objects given by local people. A trunk used by someone from the silk era who travelled by ship on business to Marseille is said to still carry its original luggage tags.

Visiting

A 2025 interview describes the brewery tour as taking in the Shioya Brewery Grain Storehouse along with the Miso and Soy Sauce storehouses. The tour is free and takes about 30 minutes. Stops can vary with the season and the work under way, so mention the Grain Storehouse when you book if you want to see it (checked 27 September 2026).

As a rental space, the owners charge 5,000 yen for 5 hours for the whole building. There is no air conditioning, and it is not rented out from July to September.

We found no statement on photography in the official information (checked 27 September 2026). Ask your guide on the day.

Directions, shop hours and how to book the brewery tour are covered on the Shioya Brewery page.