The Rice Cellar at the Corner of the Waterway
The Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence East Storehouse (武重本家酒造及び武重家住宅東蔵) is a late-Edo earthen storehouse in the estate of a working sake brewery on the old Nakasendō road in Motai, Saku City, Nagano Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 26 September 2000. It is a two-storey building of Dozo-zukuri construction under a tiled roof with a floor area of 33 square metres, dated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs to between 1751 and 1829.
The south side of the estate fronts the old Nakasendō, and an open water channel runs beside the road. At the eastern edge of the property the channel turns north, and the storehouse stands on the stone embankment at that bend. It measures five bays by two, roughly 9 metres by 3.6 metres, with the ridge running north to south under a Sangawara-buki pantile roof of the okiyane type. It was originally a rice store.
An okiyane, or set-on roof, is a separate timber roof frame placed over the plastered body of a storehouse, leaving a gap between wall and roof that sheds rain away from the earthen walls and lets heat escape. Older than the brewery, which opened in 1868, this cellar held the family's rice before there was any sake to make from it.
Why It Is Listed
The register lists the storehouse under the criterion of contributing to the nation's historic landscape and calls it, together with the gate house, the shop and the west storehouse that continue westward, a principal element of the streetscape along the old Nakasendō. The east storehouse is the eastern end of the estate's street front; the famous run of white walls begins here.
Standing at the bend of the waterway matters. A traveller coming west along the Nakasendō rounds the corner with the stream and meets the white wall of the east storehouse first. The Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence East Storehouse acts as the gatekeeper of the estate, its double-outlined roof closing the corner of the road.
Its small size, 33 square metres, counts for something in this reading. Between the long shop building and the long west storehouse, the short, tall east storehouse stands like a punctuation mark in the street.
What to Look For
The place to stand is the corner of the waterway. The channel at the edge of the old Nakasendō turns north along the eastern edge of the estate, and the Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence East Storehouse rests on the stonework inside the bend. Let your eye climb from stone to water to white wall to tile, and it becomes clear that the cellar and the channel were built as one.
Look up at the roof and you can see the gap that defines the okiyane form. A timber frame sits on the earthen body and the tiled roof rides on top of that, with a band of shadow marking the line between white plaster and the wood of the eaves.
To the west the gate house adjoins the storehouse, and its south face holds the gate hung with the cedar ball that announces new sake. Most photographs of Motai frame that gate head-on. Step a little east and take in the flow of wall from the east storehouse to the gate house, and you can see how the streetscape is put together.
Visiting and Getting There
The Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence East Storehouse stands at the eastern corner of the estate's street front and can be viewed at close range from the old Nakasendō. Stand where the water channel turns north and look up at the white wall and set-on roof above the stonework. The interior is private; entry to the grounds is limited to shop hours and the open day.
Takeshige Honke is a working brewery and the Takeshige family's home. The buildings are not open to the public on a regular basis, and the only routine way into the compound is to call at the office and shop during business hours, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekdays. It closes on weekends, national holidays, the New Year period and the old-calendar Bon holiday in summer. Once a year, around the spring equinox (usually 20 or 21 March), the brewery holds an open day, when visitors can walk through the fermentation cellars and taste the sake. For the 2026 open day a chartered shuttle bus ran from Sakudaira Station. The brewery also arranges reservation-only tastings in a converted cellar, some of which include a short tour, so it is worth checking the official website before travelling.
The nearest station is Sakudaira on the Hokuriku Shinkansen. From there, a Chikuma Bus bound for Mochizuki and Ashida stops at Motai-iriguchi, about two minutes on foot from the brewery, but the service runs on weekdays only. At weekends, plan on a taxi or car: the drive is about 30 minutes and roughly 15 kilometres. From the Joshin-etsu Expressway, both the Saku and Yunomaru interchanges are about 30 minutes away by car. Photography from the public road is unrestricted; inside the compound, follow the staff's guidance during events.
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Q&A
- When was the Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence East Storehouse built?
- In the late Edo period. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to between 1751 and 1829, before the brewery was founded in 1868.
- What is the east storehouse?
- A two-storey earthen storehouse of 33 square metres with a set-on (okiyane) tiled roof, five bays by two with a north-south ridge. It was originally a rice store.
- Where does the east storehouse stand?
- On the stone embankment at the bend where the water channel along the old Nakasendō turns north along the eastern edge of the estate. It marks the eastern end of the brewery's street front.
- Can the east storehouse be seen from the road?
- Yes, at close range from the old Nakasendō. The interior is not open to the public.
- Why was it registered?
- It was registered on 26 September 2000 under the criterion of contributing to the nation's historic landscape, as a principal element of the Nakasendō streetscape together with the gate house, shop and west storehouse.
Basic Information
| Name | Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence East Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 2179 Higashimachi, Motai, Saku City, Nagano Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 26 September 2000 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Earthen-wall construction (dozo-zukuri), 2 storeys, tiled roof, floor area 33 square metres (5 by 2 bays) |
| Owner | Not recorded in the ACA database (within the Takeshige family estate) |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (working brewery and private home); shop entry weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; interiors on the open day around the spring equinox |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: 武重本家酒造及び武重家住宅東蔵
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001786
- Saku City: Motai Ai-no-shuku (Nakasendo rest station)
- https://www.city.saku.nagano.jp/kanko/kanko/spot/nakasendo/motaiainoshuku/motaiainoshuku.html
- Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery, official website
- https://takeshige-honke.jp/
- Shinshu Tateshina Tourism Association: Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery
- https://shirakabakogen.jp/spot/takeshiga_honke_syuzo
Last verified: 2026.09.10