No. 3 Storehouse at the Takeshige Honke Brewery
The No. 3 Storehouse stands west of the No. 1 and No. 2 Storehouses, a shikomi-gura, a cellar for preparing the fermenting mash. It is a two-storey dozo earthen-wall building of about 164 square metres, its ridge set north to south under a tiled gable roof, dating to the late Meiji period. The No. 5 Storehouse extends from it to the north on the same span.
Its most telling feature is hidden in the structure. The intermediate interior posts are not single timbers but are built up from thick planks assembled and bolted together, an unusual specification that departs from ordinary framing.
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
That bolted, built-up post is why the register lists the storehouse as hard to recreate and prizes it as a case of structural variety in brewery building. It is a reminder that these cellars were engineered for the loads and stresses of brewing, not simply thrown up as sheds.
The technique makes the No. 3 Storehouse an interesting document of how builders solved the practical problems of a large working cellar in the years around 1900.
Registered on the national list as something difficult to recreate, 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
Most of what makes this building notable cannot be seen from the lane, which is part of its quiet appeal. Knowing that the posts inside are bolted composites changes how the plain earthen exterior reads: sober outside, ingeniously built within.
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 No. 3 Storehouse used for?
- It is a shikomi-gura, a cellar where the fermenting mash was prepared, at the heart of the brewing process.
- What is unusual about its structure?
- Its interior posts are built up from thick planks bolted together rather than cut from single timbers, an uncommon method.
- Why was it registered?
- As hard to recreate and as an example of structural variety in sake-brewery architecture, chiefly for those composite posts.
- Can visitors see it?
- No. It is a working cellar within the private compound. The grounds open around 21 March each year.
Basic Information
| Name | 武重本家酒造及び武重家住宅三号蔵 (No. 3 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164㎡ |
| Period | 明治後期 (1868-1911) |
| 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三号蔵
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001801
- 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