Shioya Brewery Moromi Storehouse

What the Shioya Brewery Moromi Storehouse Is

The Shioya Brewery Moromi Storehouse (塩屋醸造諸味蔵, Shioya Jōzō Moromigura) is a late Edo brewing storehouse at 537 Oaza Suzaka, Suzaka City, Nagano Prefecture, standing in the southwest corner 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 building with a gabled pantile roof and covers 93 square metres.

It faces east and measures 7 by 4 bays. Inside, the posts are exposed in the Shinkabe manner and the Japanese roof frame, Wagoya, carries very long beams. The outer walls are finished with a middle coat of plaster, with clapboard, Shitami-itabari, around the lower part.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the late Edo period, with alterations in 1994. Moromi is the brewer's word for the fermenting mash of soy sauce or sake, the stage before it becomes liquid.

Why It Was Listed

The Shioya Brewery Moromi Storehouse was listed for its contribution to the historic landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as plainly built but large, an element of the brewery's townscape.

Only three of the ten listed buildings date back to the late Edo period, the Moromi, Tezukuri and Miso storehouses, and all three are where the brewing is done. The Shioya Brewery Moromi Storehouse belongs to the oldest layer of Shioya as a brewer.

This is not a building that shows off. Plain plastered walls, a boarded skirt, heavy beams: it was built for one job, holding soy sauce mash for a long time, and that directness is what the listing recognises.

What to Look For

Look at where the wall changes. The Shioya Brewery Moromi Storehouse has earth plaster above and boards around its base. The boards protect the lower wall from rain splash and knocks, and a finish chosen for practical reasons becomes the look of the building.

The family head explains that soy sauce begins as koji made from soybeans and wheat, which is mixed with brine and left for one to two years. That is the moromi, and when it is ready it is carried to the Soy Sauce Storehouse to be pressed. Most of soy sauce's time is spent here.

Inside, the exposed posts and long beams of the Japanese roof frame leave a clear space along the 7-bay length for rows of fermentation tubs.

Visiting

The Shioya Brewery Moromi Storehouse is named in the owners' virtual tour, and they state that each storehouse can be opened by booking. The free tour of about 30 minutes, however, centres on the Miso and Soy Sauce storehouses, and access to the Moromi Storehouse depends on the work under way. Mention it when you book if you want to (checked 27 September 2026).

It stands deep in the southwest of the premises and cannot be seen from the city road.

We found no statement on photography in the official information (checked 27 September 2026). Mash is maturing inside, so follow your guide's lead.

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