Brick Water Cistern at the Takeshige Honke Brewery
The Brick Water Cistern sits at the innermost part of the detached grounds, in the rear garden on the north side of the detached quarters. It measures three metres by two in plan and rises thirty-eight courses of brick, laid in English bond, dating to the Taisho years.
Inside, it is divided into two tanks, one for household use and one for brewing. It answers to the well below the stone retaining wall, holding the water pumped up from there and distributing it to where it is needed.
The brewery traces its start to 1868, the first year of Meiji, when Takeshige Tokuzaemon gained a brewing licence for the family seat at Motai. The Takeshige line had lived here since the early 1600s, their ancestors once vassals of the Takeda. Motai grew up on the Nakasendo as a stopping place between the post towns of Mochizuki and Ashida. Two sake houses anchor the village, their long white walls giving the lane much of its character.
Why It Is Listed
The register values the cistern as a facility that speaks of the brewery's modernisation, and lists it as hard to recreate. A brick tank laid in English bond, dividing domestic and brewing supply, is a piece of early-twentieth-century waterworks in miniature, rare to find preserved.
It completes the water story of the compound: from the round well under its little shelter, up by pump to this divided brick tank, and out to the house and the cellars.
Registered on the national list as something difficult to recreate, it forms one part of a rare survival. The registration of 26 September 2000 placed some thirty buildings of the working brewery on the national list of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties. Brewing here follows the old kimoto process, in which wild lactic-acid bacteria are coaxed into the yeast starter over time. Soft water from the slopes of Mt. Tateshina and the cold Saku winters suit the slow method.
Seeing It Today
Small and utilitarian, the cistern is easy to overlook, yet it is one of the more revealing structures here. The neat English bond of its bricks marks the moment when an old brewing house adopted modern plumbing without abandoning its founding well.
The wandering poet Wakayama Bokusui praised the house label, Misonotake, and a stone bearing three of his tanka stands at the front of the compound, raised in 1967.
This is a working, family-run brewery rather than a museum, so the interiors are not generally open. The grounds open once a year, around the spring equinox on 21 March, for a cellar day with tastings. For a fuller visit, pair the walk past these walls with the Osawa Sake Brewery close by, which has a gallery and offers tastings any day.
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Q&A
- What is the Brick Water Cistern for?
- It stores water pumped up from the brewery's well and divides it into two tanks, one for household use and one for brewing.
- How is it built?
- In brick laid in English bond, rising thirty-eight courses, about three metres by two in plan, dating to the Taisho years.
- Why is it considered important?
- As a facility that shows the brewery's modernisation, and as something hard to recreate. It is a rare preserved example of early brick waterworks.
- Can I see it?
- No. It stands within the private detached grounds. The wider compound opens around 21 March each year.
Basic Information
| Name | 武重本家酒造及び武重家住宅水槽 (Brick Water Cistern) |
|---|---|
| Location | 長野県佐久市茂田井字東町2179, on the old Nakasendo highway |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (registered 26 September 2000) |
| Count / Scale | 1棟; 煉瓦造、高さ2.5m、幅3m、奥行2m |
| Period | 大正期 (1912-1925) |
| Owner | Takeshige family / Takeshige Honke Brewery |
| Access | Private working brewery; interiors not generally open. Grounds open around 21 March each year for the cellar day. |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs — 武重本家酒造及び武重家住宅水槽
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001843
- Takeshige Honke Brewery — Official site
- https://takeshige-honke.jp/
- Shinshu Tateshina Tourism Association — Takeshige Honke Brewery
- https://shirakabakogen.jp/spot/takeshiga_honke_syuzo/
Last verified: 2026.07.03