Former Rice-Polishing House at the Takeshige Honke Brewery
The Former Rice-Polishing House stands on a corner plot diagonally opposite the detached grounds, where waterways meet, presenting a large gable end to the old Nakasendo. Measuring five ken by five ken, it is a two-storey building with its ridge set north to south under a tiled gable roof and shinkabe walls, dating to the early Showa years.
It is where the brewing rice was polished. A waterwheel is thought to have been set on the waterway that ran along the old highway, driving the machinery that stripped the outer layers from the grain before brewing.
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
Rice polishing is a step that shapes the final sake, removing the outer parts of the grain to leave the starchy core. That the brewery kept its own polishing house, powered by the water of the highway ditch, again shows a trade that gathered its stages under its own roofs.
The building is one of the related facilities of the brewing house, a reminder that a sake compound is more than its cellars: it is a whole sequence of buildings, from water and rice to barrel and store.
Registered on the national list as a contribution to the nation's historic landscape, 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
Its position is part of its interest. Set where the waterways cross and turning its gable to the road, the polishing house shows how the brewery used the flow of water that ran through Motai, the same water that made the place worth settling.
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 did the Former Rice-Polishing House do?
- It polished the brewing rice, removing the outer layers of the grain before fermentation. A waterwheel on the roadside channel is thought to have powered it.
- Where is it?
- On a corner at 2188-3 Motai, diagonally across from the detached grounds, presenting its gable to the old Nakasendo.
- Is it open to visitors?
- No. It belongs to the working brewery. The grounds open around 21 March each year for the cellar day.
- Why polish rice for sake?
- Removing the outer grain leaves the starch-rich core, which shapes the clarity and flavour of the finished sake.
Basic Information
| Name | 武重本家酒造及び武重家住宅旧精米所 (Former Rice-Polishing House) |
|---|---|
| Location | 長野県佐久市茂田井字東町2188-3, 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104㎡ |
| 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旧精米所
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001811
- 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