Charcoal Shed at the Takeshige Honke Brewery
The Charcoal Shed stands east of the No. 2 Storehouse, on a plot across the road, presenting its gable end to the street. It is a two-storey timber building of shinkabe construction, two and a half ken by six ken, with a single-storey clapboard section of two and a half by three and a half ken thrown out to the south, its ridge set at a right angle to the main block.
Its history reaches back further than its Meiji dating suggests. It is said to have been assembled from part of the old main house, moved here when the residence was rebuilt in 1909. The register carries this as tradition rather than established fact.
A former Takeda vassal household that had farmed Motai for generations, the Takeshige turned to brewing in 1868 under their twelfth head, Tokuzaemon, and the trade has continued in the same buildings ever since. Motai sits on the old Nakasendo highway between the post towns of Mochizuki and Ashida, functioning as an aidonoshuku, an informal rest stop between official stations. White plaster walls run for the better part of two kilometres along its lanes.
Why It Is Listed
As a building reused from the earlier house, the shed is a thread of continuity through the compound's rebuilding. Timber that once framed the family's rooms was given a new, humbler life storing charcoal, a common thrift in old rural households.
It counts among the buildings that give the brewing compound its outward form along the Nakasendo, holding the streetline on the far side of the road.
Registered on the national list as a contribution to the nation's historic landscape, it forms one part of a rare survival. Some thirty buildings here carry the Registered Tangible Cultural Property designation granted on 26 September 2000, a rare case of a listed complex that remains in daily production. Soft groundwater from Mt. Tateshina feeds a brewing regimen built on kimoto, an early technique that relies on airborne lactic-acid bacteria in the cellar to build the starter. Few breweries still work this way.
Seeing It Today
The shed rewards a look for its story more than its scale. If the tradition holds, its timbers are older than almost anything else in the yard, carried over from the house that stood before the present one and quietly kept in use.
Three tanka by the travelling poet Wakayama Bokusui are carved on a monument at the entrance. He wrote fondly of the brewery's Misonotake sake, and a second label, Bokusui, now carries his name.
Because production continues year-round, the listed buildings are normally viewed only from the street. The one regular chance to step inside comes at the annual cellar opening held around 21 March. The neighbouring Osawa Sake Brewery keeps a small museum and offers year-round tastings, and the walk along Motai's walled lane rewards an unhurried pace.
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Q&A
- What is the Charcoal Shed?
- A two-storey timber shed across the road from the No. 2 Storehouse, used for storing charcoal, with a lower clapboard wing to the south.
- Is it really made from the old house?
- It is said to have been assembled from part of the earlier main house when the residence was rebuilt in 1909. This is recorded as tradition, not confirmed fact.
- Can I go inside?
- No. It is part of the working compound. The grounds open around 21 March each year for the cellar day.
- Why does it stand across the road?
- It sits on a separate plot east of the No. 2 Storehouse, holding the streetline of Motai on the far side of the road.
Basic Information
| Name | 武重本家酒造及び武重家住宅炭小屋 (Charcoal Shed) |
|---|---|
| Location | 長野県佐久市茂田井字東町2177-1, on the old Nakasendo highway |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (registered 26 September 2000) |
| Count / Scale | 1棟; 木造2階建、瓦葺、建築面積95㎡ |
| Period | 江戸後期／明治42移築改造 (1751-1829／1909移築改造) |
| Owner | 武重本家酒造株式会社 |
| 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炭小屋
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001808
- 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