What Is the Inoue Sake Brewery Store and Main House?
The Inoue Sake Brewery Store and Main House (井上酒造店舗兼主屋, Inoue Shuzō Tenpo-ken-shuoku) is a combined shop and family residence built in 1914 for a sake brewery in Dosako, Ōaza Ōhi, Hita City, Oita Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on August 1, 2016.
It is a two-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 454 square meters. Of the three registered structures at Inoue Sake Brewery it is the largest, and it is the one the public meets first: the front of the business and the home of the brewing family under a single roof.
From a Thatched Single Storey to a Tiled Two-Storey House
According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Inoue Sake Brewery Store and Main House began life as a single-storey building under a thatched roof. A second floor was added later and the thatch was replaced with tiles. The database gives the date as "1914, remodelled 1943", which places that remodelling in 1943, while Hita City's register records 1914 as the year of the ridge-raising.
The Agency reads the extension as a sign of a family business on the rise. Taking off a thatched roof to set a whole upper floor on the house is no small job, and it shows a brewery that had been in business for nearly 140 years enlarging both its shop and its living quarters in the first half of the Showa era.
The brewery is famous as the birthplace of Inoue Junnosuke, the central banker and finance minister, but he was born in 1869. Strictly speaking, the building visitors see today is a Taisho-era house raised on the family property where he was born, rather than the room he was born in.
A Formal Entrance and a Wide Earthen Floor
What the Agency singles out is the scale of the house and its formal Shikidai entrance porch under a hipped-and-gabled (irimoya) roof. Inside, the plan divides into two parts: a broad Doma, the earth-floored area used as the shop, and a raised floor section lined with well-finished Zashiki reception rooms.
In other words, the Inoue Shuzō main house carries two faces. The doma served the daily trade of a local merchant, while the shikidai porch received guests in the manner of an established landed family, and both sit within the same frame.
The building was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country, together with the wooden storehouse and the chimney registered on the same day.
Visiting the Inoue Sake Brewery Store and Main House
From outside, look for the way the irimoya roof of the entrance porch meets the tiled roof of the upper floor that was added later. Comparing the eaves of the ground floor and the upper storey makes it easier to picture the low thatched house that stood here before 1943.
The Seikei Bunko, which displays Junnosuke's belongings, shares the lot number 2299 with the Inoue Sake Brewery Store and Main House, and the company describes it as set up inside the family home. Among the rooms shown is one where Junnosuke is said to have relaxed on his visits home. The Seikei Bunko is open by reservation, and booking details and admission are covered on the Inoue Sake Brewery page. No policy on indoor photography is published, so ask when you book.
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Q&A
- When was the Inoue Sake Brewery Store and Main House built?
- In 1914. It was remodelled in 1943, which is probably when the original thatched single-storey house gained its upper floor and tiled roof.
- Was Inoue Junnosuke born in the Inoue Sake Brewery Store and Main House?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the brewery as his family home, but Junnosuke was born in 1869 and the present building dates from 1914.
- What is the layout of the Inoue Sake Brewery Store and Main House?
- A wide earth-floored doma used as the shop, and a raised section of zashiki reception rooms, entered through a formal shikidai porch under an irimoya roof.
- When was the Inoue Sake Brewery Store and Main House registered as a cultural property?
- On August 1, 2016, as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property contributing to the historic landscape, on the same day as the wooden storehouse and the chimney.
- Can visitors go inside the Inoue Sake Brewery Store and Main House?
- The Seikei Bunko, on the same lot, opens by reservation (300 yen; telephone 0973-28-2213). Ask about photography when you book.
Basic Information
| Name | Inoue Sake Brewery Store and Main House (井上酒造店舗兼主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2299-1 Dosako, Oaza Ohi, Hita City, Oita Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2016 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building area 454 m² |
| Owner | Inoue Shuzo Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | The Seikei Bunko on the same lot is open by reservation |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Inoue Sake Brewery Store and Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00011227
- Cultural Heritage Online: Inoue Sake Brewery Store and Main House
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/217224
- Hita City: List of Cultural Properties (PDF)
- https://www.city.hita.oita.jp/uploaded/attachment/4574.pdf
- Inoue Shuzo: Seikei Bunko
- https://www.kakunoi.com/tour/
Last verified: 2026.10.06
