The Second Cellar in the Row
The Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence No. 2 Storehouse (武重本家酒造及び武重家住宅二号蔵) is a mid-Meiji fermentation cellar belonging to 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 earthen-wall construction under a tiled roof, covering 244 square metres, and it is owned by Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery Co., Ltd.
It stands in the brewing yard at the back of the estate, parallel to the No. 1 Storehouse and directly behind it. The ridge runs east to west under a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles. A stair hall is fitted into the gap between it and the No. 1 cellar toward the western end, and at the eastern end there is a testing room finished in Western style. The eastern part of the upper floor is the koji room, where the mould that converts rice starch to sugar is cultivated.
Takeshige Honke was founded in 1868 by Takeshige Tokuzaemon, the twelfth head of the family. The No. 1 cellar is regarded as the founding-era building; the No. 2 cellar was added behind it, and the No. 4 cellar, raised in 1917, followed further north. The numbering records the order of growth.
Why It Is Listed
The register lists the cellar under the criterion of serving as a model of design and describes it as one of the buildings that show the brewery's development. The mid-Meiji date places it two or three decades after the founding, when production was expanding.
The Western-style testing room at the eastern end deserves a second look. Meiji-era breweries were adopting quality inspection, partly for tax purposes, and more systematic control of fermentation. A small Western room set into the corner of an earthen cellar is that transition made visible.
The Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence No. 2 Storehouse remains in service. Sake is still brewed here by the kimoto method the house has used since its founding, in which wild lactic bacteria from the cellar are drawn into the yeast starter. The brewery says the thick earthen walls keep the interior below 22 degrees Celsius even in summer, and that maturing environment is part of what the listing protects.
What to Look For
The No. 2 cellar cannot be seen from the road. It lies north of the No. 1 cellar in the innermost part of the brewing yard, and the only way to see it is to enter the compound on the open day. Its long gabled roof runs parallel to the No. 1 cellar with the stair hall wedged between; seen from above, the three cellars line up like the teeth of a comb.
If you get inside, find the koji room on the upper floor to the east and the testing room at the eastern end. The koji room is kept at a precise temperature and humidity, and on open days visitors are sometimes allowed to look in through the doorway. The windows and fittings of the testing room may still show their Western detailing; that is something to check with your own eyes.
In the winter brewing season, steam rises from the gable ends. The Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence No. 2 Storehouse is not an exhibit but a tool that produces sake every year, and its air is opened to outsiders for a single day each spring.
Visiting and Getting There
The Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence No. 2 Storehouse stands at the back of the estate behind the No. 1 cellar and is invisible from the old Nakasendō. The interior, and the yard where the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 cellars stand in a row, can be seen only on the open day around the spring equinox or during a reservation-only tasting that includes a tour.
The Takeshige compound is both residence and brewery, and its interiors are not open as a rule. Visitors may enter the grounds to buy sake at the office and shop on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; the brewery is closed on weekends, national holidays, at New Year and during the old-calendar Bon holiday. The cellars, including the fermentation storehouses, open once a year around the spring equinox (usually 20 or 21 March) for tours and tastings, and for the 2026 open day a chartered bus was provided from Sakudaira Station. Reservation-only tastings held in a renovated cellar sometimes include a guided walk, so check the official site for dates.
To get there, ride the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Sakudaira, then a Chikuma Bus toward Mochizuki and Ashida to the Motai-iriguchi stop, about two minutes' walk from the gate. Because the bus operates on weekdays only, weekend visitors should budget about 30 minutes and 15 kilometres by taxi or car from Sakudaira. The Saku and Yunomaru interchanges on the Joshin-etsu Expressway are each about 30 minutes away. Taking photographs from the old Nakasendō is fine; inside the compound, follow staff instructions during open events.
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Q&A
- When was the Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence No. 2 Storehouse built?
- In the mid-Meiji period. The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives the date as mid-Meiji, within the range 1868 to 1911, without a specific year.
- What is inside the No. 2 storehouse?
- It is a two-storey earthen-walled fermentation cellar of 244 square metres, with a Western-style testing room at the east end, a koji room upstairs on the east side, and a stair hall shared with the No. 1 cellar.
- Is the No. 2 storehouse still used for brewing?
- Yes. It is an active fermentation cellar where the brewery's kimoto-method sake is made. The owner is Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery Co., Ltd.
- Can visitors see the No. 2 storehouse?
- Not normally. It opens on the brewery's annual open day around the spring equinox, when the cellars can be toured and the sake tasted, and occasionally during reservation-only tastings.
- Why was it registered?
- It was registered on 26 September 2000 with 29 other structures of the estate under the criterion of serving as a model of design, as a building that shows how the brewery grew.
Basic Information
| Name | Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence No. 2 Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 2179 Higashimachi and adjacent lots, 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 244 square metres |
| Owner | Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery Co., Ltd. |
| 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二号蔵
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001800
- 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