Main House at the Takeshige Honke Brewery
The Main House anchors the compound at Motai, the aidonoshuku between Mochizuki and Ashida on the old Nakasendo. It is a two-storey timber building of about 236 square metres under a tiled roof, dating to 1909, set with the brewing buildings ranged behind it at the north, rear part of the site along the highway.
It is a full two storeys with a koshiyane monitor roof and a gabled form, both gable ends plastered over in the manner of a dozo storehouse. The Rear Drawing Room joins it on the west, and the east end of its ground floor is a tori-niwa, a through-passage that runs back to the brewing cellars.
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
The register lists the Main House as a model of its form. It shows how a brewing family lived and worked in one continuous set of buildings, the residence at the road and the cellars behind, linked by the passage that runs straight through.
The plastered gable ends are a practical choice as much as a style, lending the house something of the fire-resistant character of the storehouses it fronts.
Registered on the national list as a model of its form, 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 Main House is the building most travellers picture when they think of Motai. Its street front, with the sugidama cedar ball hung at the gate to mark a brewery, is among the most photographed scenes of the old Nakasendo, and it has stood in for the past in films shot here.
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 is special about the Main House?
- It is the residence at the front of a working brewery, joined by a through-passage to the cellars behind, and listed as a model of its form.
- Why are its gable ends plastered?
- The gable ends are finished in plaster like a storehouse, giving the house fire resistance and tying it visually to the cellars.
- Is the house open to visitors?
- No. It is a private residence and working brewery. The grounds open around 21 March each year for the cellar day.
- Has it appeared in films?
- The brewery's street front has featured in films set in the past, and the walled lane of Motai is a well-known Nakasendo scene.
Basic Information
| Name | 武重本家酒造及び武重家住宅主屋 (Main House) |
|---|---|
| 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236㎡ |
| Period | 明治42 (1909) |
| Owner | Takeshige family / Takeshige Honke Brewery |
| 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主屋
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001783
- 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