The Cellar on the Far Side of the Road
The Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence South Storehouse (武重本家酒造及び武重家住宅南蔵) is an early-Shōwa earthen storehouse 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 construction under a tiled roof with a floor area of 127 square metres, and it stands on a corner lot at 2181-1 Higashimachi, across the road from the main part of the estate.
It turns its gable to the old Nakasendō. The main block measures seven bays by three and a half, about 13 metres by 6.4 metres, with a north-south ridge under a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles in the set-on (okiyane) form. A second gabled storehouse with a lean-to joins it at a right angle, so that the whole building is L-shaped.
The Takeshige estate keeps its main house and cellars on the north side of the road; only the south storehouse and the rice storehouse beside it stand on the south. Some sixty years after the brewery's founding in 1868, in the early Shōwa period, its buildings had spread across the highway.
Why It Is Listed
The register lists the storehouse under the criterion of contributing to the nation's historic landscape. The Agency's commentary explains that by facing the east storehouse, the gate house and the shop, it completes the traditional streetscape of a Nakasendō rest stop. Without it, the white walls would run along one side of the road only; with it, the street is held between white walls on both sides.
Motai was a rest stop between the post towns of Mochizuki and Ashida and kept its Edo-period street after the main route moved away. The Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence South Storehouse is an early-Shōwa addition to that older scene, but it speaks the same language of set-on roof, white plaster and tile and settles into it without a seam.
Turning the gable to the road is a choice with consequences. The shop and gate house on the north side present their long flanks to the street; the south storehouse presents a triangle. Two facing walls of different shape give the street depth.
What to Look For
Stand in front of the gate house on the old Nakasendō and look across. On the corner diagonally opposite is a white earthen storehouse with its gable turned to the road: the Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence South Storehouse. The white plaster climbs to the apex of the triangle and the tiles of the set-on roof ride above it.
Turn the corner into the lane running south and the seven-bay flank of the storehouse comes into view, with the lean-to cellar continuing at a right angle. Work out which way the inside of the L faces and you can tell from which side the cellar was loaded.
Take two photographs: the south storehouse seen from the brewery gate, and the gate with its cedar ball seen from in front of the south storehouse. Motai's street, white walls facing white walls, only completes itself in that exchange of views.
Visiting and Getting There
The Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence South Storehouse stands on the south side of the old Nakasendō on the corner diagonally opposite the gate house, and its gable and flank can be seen at close range from the road. View it from in front of the gate house and again from the lane that turns south. The interior is private; please keep off the storehouse's lot.
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 South Storehouse built?
- In the early Shōwa period. The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives early Shōwa without a specific year.
- Where does the south storehouse stand?
- On the corner lot at 2181-1 Higashimachi, diagonally across the old Nakasendō from the gate house. It and the neighbouring rice storehouse are the only Takeshige buildings on the south side of the road.
- What shape is the south storehouse?
- L-shaped: a seven-by-three-and-a-half-bay earthen storehouse with a set-on roof, its gable to the road, joined at a right angle by a gabled storehouse with a lean-to. The floor area is 127 square metres.
- Can the south storehouse be seen from the road?
- Yes. The gable can be seen from the old Nakasendō and the long flank from the lane that turns south. The interior is not open.
- Why was the south storehouse registered?
- It was registered on 26 September 2000 under the criterion of contributing to the nation's historic landscape, for facing the east storehouse, gate house and shop and completing the street of the Nakasendō rest stop.
Basic Information
| Name | Takeshige Honke Sake Brewery and Takeshige Family Residence South Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 2181-1 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 127 square metres (7 by 3 and a half 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南蔵
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00001788
- 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