Fifteen Square Metres of Storehouse
The Koshi-no-Murasaki Storehouse (越のむらさき土蔵, Koshi-no-Murasaki Dozo) is a two-storey earthen-walled storehouse in the Settaya district of Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture, built in 1877 and entered on Japan's register of Tangible Cultural Properties on 29 March 2013.
Its footprint is 15 square metres. That is 4.3 metres along the ridge by 3.4 metres across, roughly the area of a single parking space. It is not a freestanding structure but an annexe, projecting from the southeast corner of the main house of a soy sauce brewery that has been in operation since 1831.
Small buildings reward close reading, because there is nothing else to look at. Almost every decision the builders made is on the surface here, and each one has a name.
Start with the roof. It is described as oki-yane-shiki (置屋根式), a set-on roof. In an ordinary building the roof structure is framed into the walls. In a dozo of this type the earthen shell is completed first and the timber roof is then set down on top of it as a separate assembly, resting rather than tying in. The arrangement leaves an air gap between the thick earthen ceiling and the tiles, which moderates temperature inside, and it means that movement in the roof does not transfer into the plaster and crack it. The covering is sangawara pantile, and the form is gabled.
Reading the Wall
The walls are finished in white lime plaster, but not uniformly, and the variations are deliberate.
The lower portion, the koshi, is clad in sasarako shitami-ita (簓子下見板張). This is horizontal weatherboarding, each board overlapping the one beneath, held in place by vertical battens whose inner faces are notched in a stepped profile so that they seat tightly against the stepped edges of the boards. The word sasarako refers to that notching. The purpose is protective: rain running down a plaster wall attacks the base first, and in a snow country town the lower metre of any wall spends months in contact with packed snow. Boards can be replaced. Plaster is harder to patch.
Above that, the window surrounds and the hachimaki, the plastered band running under the eaves like a headband, are finished in black lime plaster rather than white. Kuro-shikkui is more laborious than the white kind, requiring pigment worked into the lime and a great deal of polishing, and it was used exactly where a merchant wanted the eye to go. The result on a white wall is a graphic one: dark frames, a dark line under the roof, and the openings drawn out sharply against the field.
The building holds the status of Registered Tangible Cultural Property under registration number 15-0377, entered in the 74th round. That is a lighter category than Important Cultural Property (重要文化財), which is designated by the state and carries strict controls. Registration, created in 1996, asks the owner for notification before major alteration of the exterior and otherwise leaves the building in service. The criterion applied here is contribution to the historic landscape of the nation. The main house it adjoins is separately registered.
The Brewing Quarter
Settaya sits on the old Mikuni Kaido, the highway that ran from Echigo over the mountains towards Edo. In the Edo period the district became tenryo, land held directly by the shogunate, and brewing established itself here: soy sauce, miso, sake, and a medicinal liqueur. Six brewing companies still operate within a few streets of each other.
The reason so much survives is unhappy in origin. Nagaoka's centre was destroyed by bombing on 1 August 1945. Settaya, on the southern edge, escaped. What stands there now is a concentration of Meiji and Taisho industrial buildings of a kind that central Nagaoka lost entirely, and something on the order of seventeen registered cultural properties are within walking distance of one another.
Koshi-no-Murasaki itself is marked from a distance by its brick chimney. The company's older buildings, the roadside Jizo statue at the fork in the highway and the smell of soy sauce in the street were cited when the site took the first Nagaoka City Townscape Award.
For visitors, the practical position is straightforward. The storehouse is a working part of a working factory and is not open to the public; it can be seen from outside as part of the frontage. The company's shop sells its products directly, and factory tours have been offered by prior arrangement. Published opening hours differ between sources, one giving 8:30 to 17:30 and another 9:00 to 17:00, with weekend closure, so telephone before making a special trip.
Miyauchi Station is one stop from Nagaoka on the Shinetsu Main Line, and Settaya is about ten minutes on foot from its east exit. Volunteer guides lead walks through the district. Two nearby fermentation sites are set up for visitors in a way the working breweries are not: the Settaya Rokubangai Hakko Museum in a restored rice storehouse at the former Kina Saffron Liquor works, and Josogura at the sake brewer Yoshinogawa, a registered storehouse converted for tasting and display.
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Q&A
- Can I go inside the Koshi-no-Murasaki Storehouse?
- No. It is part of an operating soy sauce works and is not open to the public. The exterior can be seen from the street as part of the company's frontage, and the company shop sells its products directly. Factory tours have been offered by prior arrangement, so enquire in advance if that interests you.
- What does oki-yane mean in the description of the Koshi-no-Murasaki Storehouse?
- It means the tiled roof is a separate assembly set down on top of the completed earthen shell rather than framed into it. The air gap this creates helps moderate the internal temperature, and movement in the roof does not crack the plaster below.
- Why is part of the Koshi-no-Murasaki Storehouse finished in black plaster?
- The window surrounds and the hachimaki band beneath the eaves use kuro-shikkui, black lime plaster. It is more laborious to apply than the white kind and was used where an owner wanted visual emphasis, giving sharp dark outlines against the white wall.
- How do I get to the Koshi-no-Murasaki Storehouse and the Settaya district?
- Take the Shinetsu Main Line one stop from Nagaoka Station to Miyauchi Station. Settaya is roughly a ten-minute walk from the east exit. Around seventeen registered cultural properties stand within the district.
- How old is the company that owns the Koshi-no-Murasaki Storehouse?
- Soy sauce production began at the site in Tenpo 2 (1831), during the Nagaoka domain period. The storehouse and the main house it adjoins both date from 1877. The present company name comes from a dashi-infused soy sauce launched in the late 1960s.
Basic Information
| Name | Koshi-no-Murasaki Storehouse (越のむらさき土蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 3-2210 and others, Settaya, Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture (the company gives 3-9-35 Settaya) |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building), registration no. 15-0377 |
| Year Designated | Registered 29 March 2013 (Heisei 25), 74th round |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Earthen-walled construction, two storeys, tiled roof; 4.3 m by 3.4 m; building area 15 square metres |
| Owner | Koshi-no-Murasaki Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Not open to the public; exterior visible from the street. Company shop sells products directly |
References
- National Database of Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Koshi-no-Murasaki Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009445
- Koshi-no-Murasaki Co., Ltd., company information
- https://www.koshi-no-murasaki.co.jp/company/
- Nagaoka Tourism Navi: Koshi-no-Murasaki
- https://nagaoka-navi.or.jp/spot/10160
- Nagaoka City official web media: walking the brewing town of Settaya
- https://na-nagaoka.jp/archives/5804
Last verified: 2026.08.13