Former Coopers' Workshop at the Takeshige Honke Brewery
The Former Coopers' Workshop stands north of the stone retaining wall that edges the detached quarters, running along the west side of the grounds. It is a two-storey dozo earthen-wall building of about 79 square metres, dating to the Taisho years, its ridge set north to south under a tiled gable roof.
A long pent roof reaches out along the east face, giving the building a hirairi entrance on its long side. It was here that the sake barrels were made; today the space serves to store materials.
Sake has flowed from this compound since 1868, when the twelfth-generation head Takeshige Tokuzaemon took up brewing. The family had settled in Motai generations earlier, after their forebears left the service of the Takeda clan. Set on the Nakasendo between Mochizuki-juku and Ashida-juku, Motai served as an aidonoshuku, a resting point on the road. Because a later bypass drew traffic away, the Edo-period streetscape of white walls and tiled roofs survived largely intact.
Why It Is Listed
As the place where the vessels of the trade were built, the workshop was once central to the brewery's self-sufficiency. A house that seasoned its own timber and made its own barrels kept the whole cycle within its walls.
It counts among the buildings that make up the outward form of a brewing house, one element in the composition that gives the compound its unity along the Nakasendo.
Registered on the national list as a contribution to the nation's historic landscape, it forms one part of a rare survival. Roughly thirty of the compound's buildings hold status as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, entered on the national register on 26 September 2000. The house has kept to kimoto brewing since its founding, a labour-intensive method that cultivates natural lactic-acid bacteria in the starter rather than adding them, using soft spring water from Mt. Tateshina.
Seeing It Today
The workshop is worth finding for what it represents rather than what it now holds. Barrel-making was skilled work, and the building is the surviving trace of a craft that once ran alongside the brewing itself.
Wakayama Bokusui, the poet of travel and sake, is remembered by a monument out front inscribed with three of his verses; his affection for Misonotake gave rise to the Bokusui label.
The brewery keeps its buildings closed to casual interior visits, but the yearly cellar day around 21 March lets guests taste the sake and see the working shozo up close. Nearby, the Osawa Sake Brewery adds a museum and daily tastings, so the walled street of Motai can fill a relaxed half-day.
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Q&A
- What was made in the Former Coopers' Workshop?
- Sake barrels. The building was the brewery's cooperage, where the wooden vessels for brewing and storage were built.
- What is it used for now?
- It now serves as storage for materials, though its structure and position are unchanged.
- Can I visit the interior?
- No. It remains part of the working compound. The grounds open once a year, around 21 March.
- Why does it have such long eaves?
- A long pent roof runs along the east face, sheltering the entrance on the building's long side.
Basic Information
| Name | 武重本家酒造及び武重家住宅旧細工小屋 (Former Coopers' Workshop) |
|---|---|
| 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; 木造2階建、瓦葺、建築面積79㎡ |
| Period | 大正期 (1912-1925) |
| 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旧細工小屋
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001804
- 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