No. 1 Storehouse at the Takeshige Honke Brewery
The No. 1 Storehouse is the largest single building in the Takeshige brewing yard, a long two-storey structure of dozo earthen-wall construction under a tiled roof, covering some 505 square metres. Its commentary ties it to the earliest days of the house: it is described as a building of the founding period, later extended along its southern roof plane when a kamaba, the room housing the rice-steaming kettle, was added.
The dating is worth a word of caution. The register records it as late Edo (about 1830 to 1867), while the accompanying commentary calls it the founding-era building of 1868. The two do not quite agree, and the structure most likely stood before brewing began and was pressed into service at the founding.
The Takeshige family descends from retainers of the Takeda who put down roots in Motai in the early Edo period. In 1868, the twelfth head of the house, Takeshige Tokuzaemon, secured the right to brew and opened the sake business that still runs today. The hamlet of Motai lay between the Nakasendo stations of Mochizuki and Ashida as a way-stop where travellers paused rather than lodged. Its curving street is still lined with earthen walls and the gates of two brewing houses.
Why It Is Listed
What sets the storehouse apart is its silhouette. A koshiyane, a raised monitor roof, runs along the ridge to let heat and steam escape, and three large gabled dormer windows push out from the southern roof slope. These are not decoration; they mark a building shaped by the work of brewing.
As the storehouse that also held the office, it sat at the centre of the operation, and that central role is part of why the compound reads today as a complete, functioning brewery rather than a scatter of old sheds.
Registered on the national list as a contribution to the nation's historic landscape, it forms one part of a rare survival. Around thirty structures across the compound are Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, listed on 26 September 2000, and sake is still made among them. Cold-season brewing by the kimoto method has defined the house from the start, drawing wild lactic acid into the starter and giving the sake the depth that comes from long maturation.
Seeing It Today
Stand on the lane and the long tiled sweep of the roof, broken by those three dormers and the monitor above, gives the clearest sense of the scale on which sake was made here. The earthen walls, thick and pale, are the same white plaster that runs the length of Motai.
A verse stone at the gate records three poems by Wakayama Bokusui, who took to the local Misonotake. The label named after him, Bokusui, keeps the connection alive.
Visitors are welcome to walk the lane and browse the shop, though the cellars themselves open just once a year, near the spring equinox, for tastings and a look behind the walls. A short stroll away, the Osawa Sake Brewery runs a free museum and pours samples throughout the year, making the two houses an easy pair to visit on foot.
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Q&A
- Can I go inside the No. 1 Storehouse?
- No. It remains a working part of the brewery and is not generally open. The best chance to see the yard is the annual cellar day around 21 March.
- Why do the dates given for it differ?
- The national register lists it as late Edo, while the brewery's commentary calls it the founding building of 1868. The building probably predates the brewing licence and was adapted when the business began.
- What are the three boxes on the roof?
- They are large gabled dormer windows on the south slope, built to light and ventilate the interior where brewing work was done.
- Where exactly is it?
- Within the Takeshige compound at 2179 Motai, Saku, Nagano, on the old Nakasendo highway.
Basic Information
| Name | 武重本家酒造及び武重家住宅一号蔵 (No. 1 Storehouse) |
|---|---|
| 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; 土蔵造2階建、瓦葺、建築面積505㎡ |
| Period | 江戸末期 (1830-1867) |
| 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一号蔵
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001799
- 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