Timber-Drying Storehouse at the Takeshige Honke Brewery
The Timber-Drying Storehouse stands at the north end of the grounds, a tall building measuring seventeen ken along its length by four ken in depth, dating to the early Showa years. Its job was to season the timber from which sake barrels were made, a slow business that needed a large, airy space.
Set with its ridge running east to west under a sangawara tiled gable roof, it is built in two internal levels, with a pent roof carried across the whole of the south face. Its height is what strikes first: this is a building made to hold air around drying wood.
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
The storehouse marks a stage in the growth of the property, built as the grounds were extended northward. It is also one element in the overall composition of a brewing house, the outward set of buildings that told a traveller on the Nakasendo that sake was made here.
That a whole building was given over to drying barrel timber says something about the scale of the operation and the care taken over its materials.
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
The long, high wall of the storehouse closes the north end of the yard, and seen from within the grounds it gives a sense of just how far the compound grew from its first small footprint by the road.
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
- What was the Timber-Drying Storehouse used for?
- Seasoning the wood used to make sake barrels. It was built tall and open to keep air moving around the drying timber.
- How big is it?
- Seventeen ken long by four ken deep, an unusually tall building at the north end of the grounds.
- Is it at the same address as the rest?
- It stands slightly apart, at 2925-2 Yosuijiri in Motai, reflecting the northward growth of the property.
- Can I look inside?
- No. It is part of the working brewery, best seen during the annual cellar day around 21 March.
Basic Information
| Name | 武重本家酒造及び武重家住宅枯倉 (Timber-Drying Storehouse) |
|---|---|
| Location | 長野県佐久市茂田井字用水尻2925-2, 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210㎡ |
| Period | 昭和初期 (1926-1988) |
| 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枯倉
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001807
- 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