Maruichi Funeral Hall (Former Kobayashi Family Sake Brewery): A Towering Storehouse with Three Lives
Standing tall along a national highway in the historic castle town of Shimabara, Nagasaki, the Maruichi Funeral Hall presents an arresting sight to anyone passing by. With its three-story tiled roof rising fourteen meters above the street, dark plastered walls, and stately profile, it looks unlike any modern funeral facility in Japan. That is because it is not modern at all. This is a late-Meiji era dozō-zukuri earthen-walled storehouse that began life as a sake brewery, served as a silk mill, was once owned by a railway company, and now functions as a place of farewell. In 2014 it was added to Japan's Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, recognized for the extraordinary scale of its timber construction and its role in the streetscape of Shimabara.
A Building with Four Past Lives
The story of this remarkable structure begins not in Shimabara City, but about eight kilometers to the southwest, in the village of Sueho in Fukae-cho (now part of Minamishimabara City). There, in the closing years of the Meiji era, the Kobayashi family commissioned a large-scale sake brewery. The structure was built in the traditional dozō-zukuri style — heavy timber framing clad in thick plastered earthen walls, designed to keep brewing temperatures stable and to resist fire.
From Sake to Silk
In 1926, when the Kobayashi family sold their estate, the building did not meet the wrecking ball as so many wooden structures of its era did. Instead, the Unzen Silk Reeling Company purchased it, dismantled it timber by timber, and reassembled it on its present site in Benten-cho, Shimabara, where it began a second life as a silk mill. In 1937, ownership passed to the Katakura Silk Spinning Company, one of Japan's most important industrial firms of the early twentieth century. A faded chalk inscription on the third-floor interior wall — reading "Nagasaki Prefecture, Shimabara City, Bentencho, Katakura, Unzen Mill" — still bears witness to those years.
From Railway to Ritual
After the silk industry declined, the Shimabara Railway Company took ownership of the structure for a time. In 1967 it was acquired by Maruichi Sōsai, a long-established local firm whose origins lie in the manufacture of incense (the parent company is still called Maruichi Senkō Honpo, meaning "Maruichi Incense Headquarters"). The building first served as an incense factory. Then in 1999, the ground floor was renovated to become a funeral hall, while the upper floors were preserved much as they had been. Despite these changes of use, the main structure retains the character of a late-Meiji storehouse to a remarkable degree.
Why It Was Designated a Cultural Property
The building was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property on April 25, 2014. Three considerations underpinned the decision.
First, its sheer scale is exceptional. With a footprint of 580 square meters, fourteen-meter ridge height, and a main structure measuring fourteen ken by six ken (roughly twenty-five by eleven meters), it is one of the largest surviving timber storehouses of its kind in Kyushu. Few wooden buildings of this size from the Meiji era remain anywhere in Japan.
Second, its history of relocation and reuse is itself a chapter of regional industrial history. The building's biography traces the rise and decline of multiple Shimabara industries — sake, silk, railways, incense — across more than a century, making it a tangible record of how the local economy transformed.
Third, despite four changes of use and one wholesale relocation, the principal structure preserves its late-Meiji character with unusual fidelity. The main framing, the proportions, the storehouse-style construction, and the stepped three-tier roof profile all survive intact.
Highlights of the Architecture
The Stepped Three-Tier Roof
Seen from the street, the building's most striking feature is its silhouette. The main structure rises three full stories under a gabled tile roof, while along the east-facing elevation, lower lean-to extensions descend in two stages — first at the second-floor level, then again at the first. The result is a layered, three-tiered roofline that gives the building enormous visual presence on its narrow urban lot.
The Inner Forest of Timber
What truly astonishes visitors is the interior. The main hall is supported by a perimeter grid of fifteen-centimeter-square posts spaced every half ken, while four massive round columns — each thirty-six centimeters in diameter — march down the central axis to carry the upper floors. The second and third stories are framed with continuous through-posts measuring thirty centimeters thick at their bases. Standing inside, one feels less as if inside a building than within a forest of carefully ordered timber.
A Working Building, Not a Museum
Each floor still has a purpose. The ground floor functions as the funeral hall itself, with reception areas, waiting rooms, and offices. The second floor serves as a workshop where craftspeople assemble kiriko-tōrō — the elegant cut-paper lanterns used in Shimabara's shōrō-nagashi spirit-sending ceremony each Obon. The third floor remains a storage space, much as the old brewery would have used it.
Visitor Information
Maruichi Funeral Hall is, first and foremost, an active funeral facility serving the people of Shimabara. It is not a museum and is not open for casual interior tours. However, the building stands directly on a public road in central Shimabara, and its remarkable exterior — including the three-tiered roof, the storehouse walls, and the deep eaves — can be admired and photographed freely from the street.
Travelers who wish to appreciate the building are kindly asked to be considerate of any ceremonies underway and to view it from outside the property line. The structure also received the Shimabara City Townscape Conservation Award in 1999, and is one of several historic buildings that give the Bentencho district its distinctive character.
What Else to See in the Area
Shimabara is one of Kyushu's most rewarding small cities for travelers interested in history and traditional architecture. Within easy walking or short driving distance of Maruichi Funeral Hall, you will find:
- Shimabara Castle, the white-walled fortress originally built in the 1620s and rebuilt in the modern era, with sweeping views across the Ariake Sea.
- The samurai residence quarter (Bukeyashiki), where stone-walled streets and water channels still flow as they did three centuries ago.
- Shimeisō (former Itō family residence), an elegant Meiji-era villa surrounded by a famous spring-fed pond garden.
- Shimabara Yūsuikan (former Mimura family residence), another registered cultural property celebrating the city's abundant spring water.
- Miyazaki Shōten Shōchū Storehouse, a contemporary registered tangible cultural property associated with the local distilling tradition.
- Mount Unzen and the Unzen-Amakusa National Park, a short drive into the volcanic highlands above the city.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Nagasaki
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Maruichi Funeral Hall (former Kobayashi Family Residence and
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Q&A
- Can I go inside the building?
- The building is an active funeral hall and is not open as a tourist site. The exterior, however, is fully visible from the public road and can be appreciated and photographed freely.
- Why was a sake brewery moved all the way from Fukae to Shimabara?
- When the Kobayashi family sold their estate in 1926, the Unzen Silk Reeling Company recognized that the building's massive timber frame and storehouse construction would be ideal for a silk mill. Rather than build new, they dismantled the structure and reassembled it on the present site — a remarkable feat of carpentry that was not unusual in the Meiji and Taishō eras, when good timber was treasured and reused.
- What is unusual about the building's architecture?
- Two things stand out. First is its sheer scale — at fourteen meters to the ridge and 580 square meters in footprint, it is among the largest Meiji-era timber storehouses in Kyushu. Second is its three-tiered roof profile, created by lean-to extensions stepping down on the east side, which gives the building its memorable silhouette along the road.
- When can I see the best view of the exterior?
- The east elevation faces the national highway and is dramatic at any time of day. Late afternoon light is particularly flattering on the dark earthen walls and tiled roof. Combine the visit with a walk through the nearby Bentencho district for the fullest appreciation of Shimabara's historic streetscape.
- Are the kiriko-tōrō lanterns made on the second floor available to see?
- The lantern workshop is private. However, the finished kiriko-tōrō lanterns can be seen on parade during Shimabara's shōrō-nagashi ceremony in mid-August, when families send the spirits of the recently departed back to the next world. It is one of the most moving festivals in Nagasaki Prefecture.
Basic Information
| Name | Maruichi Funeral Hall (Former Kobayashi Family Residence Sake Brewery) |
|---|---|
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Date of Registration | April 25, 2014 |
| Period of Construction | Late Meiji era (1898–1912); relocated to present site between 1926 and 1945 |
| Structure | Three-story dozō-zukuri (earthen-walled storehouse construction), tile-roofed, gabled |
| Building Area | 580 square meters |
| Scale | 14 ken by 6 ken; ridge height approximately 14 meters; eave height to third floor approximately 10 meters |
| Number of Buildings | 1 |
| Owner | Maruichi Senkō Honpo Limited Partnership |
| Address | 1-7118-6 Bentencho, Shimabara City, Nagasaki Prefecture |
| Note | This is an active funeral facility; interior visits are not available, but the exterior is freely visible from the public road. |
References
- マルイチ葬祭斎場（旧小林家住宅酒蔵） - 文化遺産オンライン (Cultural Heritage Online, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/275143
- 国指定文化財等データベース - マルイチ葬祭斎場（旧小林家住宅酒蔵） (National Designated Cultural Properties Database)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010076
- マルイチ葬祭斎場（旧小林家住宅酒蔵） - 長崎県の文化財 (Cultural Properties of Nagasaki Prefecture)
- https://www.pref.nagasaki.jp/bunkadb/index.php/view/733
- マルイチ葬祭斎場（旧小林家酒蔵） - 長崎県景観・まちづくり (Nagasaki Prefecture Landscape and Town Planning)
- https://www.pref.nagasaki.jp/bunrui/machidukuri/toshikeikaku-kokudoriyo/keikan/73574.html
Last verified: 2026.05.05