Shioya Brewery Document Storehouse

What the Shioya Brewery Document Storehouse Is

The Shioya Brewery Document Storehouse (塩屋醸造文庫蔵, Shioya Jōzō Bunkogura) is an early Meiji storehouse for records and valuables at 537 Oaza Suzaka, Suzaka City, Nagano Prefecture, standing south of the main house of the Shioya miso and soy sauce brewery, and was listed as Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 15 May 2007. It is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri storehouse with a gabled pantile roof, covering 29 square metres.

It faces north and measures 3 and a half by 2 and a half bays. The outer walls are lime-plastered in Shikkui; the lower wall is finished in Namako-kabe tiling on the front only, and in clapboard, Shitami-itabari, on the other three sides.

A bunkogura is the storehouse in which a merchant or old family kept its account books, papers and most valued possessions. At Shioya it stands on the domestic side of the lot, apart from the brewing storehouses along the west and south edges.

Why It Was Listed

The Shioya Brewery Document Storehouse was listed for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs points to its doorway lintel shaped like a curved tie-beam, Kōryō, its stepped plaster doors, and the black plaster on window frames and on the band around the top of the walls, which give it a dignified exterior.

That is a lot of care for a building of 29 square metres. The brewing storehouses make do with plain plaster and boarding; the document storehouse is dressed in white and black plaster, tiled panels and an arched lintel. A building that held the family's assets was made to show the family's standing too.

Set it beside the Small Document Storehouse on the same domestic side, which is simply finished, and the difference in rank between the two is plain.

What to Look For

Start with the lower front wall. On the Shioya Brewery Document Storehouse only the front has namako-kabe, flat tiles laid in a grid with raised plaster joints. The other three sides are clapboard, so the laborious finish was reserved for the face people would see.

Then the doorway. The lintel is shaped into a curved beam, and below it hang plaster doors whose edges are built up in steps so that they lock tightly into the frame when closed. It is a fire precaution as much as a finish.

Finally, follow the black lines. Black plaster outlines the window frames and the band that runs around the top of the walls, and it sharpens the silhouette of a small white building.

Visiting

The Shioya Brewery Document Storehouse stands on the domestic side of the premises, and no public access is advertised (checked 27 September 2026). It is not named among the stops on the free brewery tour.

Standing south of the main house, it is hard to see from the city road. The only route to seeing it would be to ask when booking the brewery tour.

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

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