About the Bitchuya Koso Sake Brewery Zashikigura
The Bitchuya Koso Sake Brewery Zashikigura (備中屋高祖酒造座敷蔵, Bitchūya Kōso Shuzō Zashikigura) in Ushimado, Setouchi City, Okayama Prefecture, is a 2-story earthen-walled storehouse from the Tenpō era (1830 to 1844) with a formal tatami room inside, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2007.
The word zashikigura joins zashiki, a room for receiving guests, and kura, a storehouse. It describes a fire-resistant Dozo-zukuri warehouse in which part of the interior has been finished as a reception room. Setouchi City's page reverses the word order and calls it a kurazashiki, but the registered name is Zashikigura.
The building stands on the west edge of the brewery's founding site in the Sekimachi quarter. It is reached from the north side of the Main House through a covered passage and a small single-story anteroom. With a building area of 60 square meters, it is the oldest of the four registered structures, dating to the very years in which the Bitchuya house began brewing.
Why the Zashikigura Matters
The Bitchuya Koso Sake Brewery Zashikigura was registered for contributing to the historic landscape of the country, a criterion that looks beyond the single building to the townscape it helps create.
The storehouse has a north-south ridge and a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof in Hongawarabuki tiling, and the roof over the northern half sits one step higher than the southern half. That raised half holds the reason for the name: an 8-mat room with a Tokonoma display alcove. Even from outside, the step in the roof tells you which end holds the guest room.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that, together with the pressing storehouse lined up to the north (a separate building, not one of the four registered), the Zashikigura forms a distinctive row of roofs at different heights. A room for honored guests set right beside the storehouse where sake was pressed is a neat picture of how a port-town brewer kept business and hospitality on one plot.
Details to Notice
The walls of the Bitchuya Koso Sake Brewery Zashikigura are finished in white Shikkui lime plaster, with Namako-kabe tilework around the base, where a thick earthen wall is most exposed to rain splash. Compare it with the Main House, whose upper floor is framed in black plaster: the same site plays white against black.
The other detail is the roofline. The northern half steps up from the southern half, and the pressing storehouse beyond continues the rhythm, so the ridges read as a staircase from south to north.
The covered passage and anteroom joining it to the house are also telling. They made the reception room an extension of the family's living space rather than an ordinary warehouse.
Visiting the Zashikigura
The Bitchuya Koso Sake Brewery Zashikigura sits behind the Main House on private company land, and its tatami room is not open to the public. Because the storehouse does not front the street, only parts of its roof and walls can be seen from outside.
Stay on the public road and do not enter the grounds or passages. As of September 25, 2026, no special opening of the Zashikigura had been announced.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Okayama
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Bitchuya Koso Sake Brewery Zashikigura
- [ Kurashiki Bikan District & Korakuen Garden Tours ]
Q&A
- Can visitors see the tatami room in the Bitchuya Koso Sake Brewery Zashikigura?
- No. The interior is closed and the building stands on private land, so only parts of the exterior can be seen from the public road.
- How old is the Bitchuya Koso Sake Brewery Zashikigura?
- It dates to the Tenpō era (1830 to 1844), making it the oldest of the four registered structures at the site.
- What does "zashikigura" mean in the Bitchuya Koso Sake Brewery Zashikigura?
- It is a storehouse with a guest room inside. Here the northern half holds an 8-mat room with a tokonoma alcove, reached from the Main House.
- Why does the roof of the Bitchuya Koso Sake Brewery Zashikigura have two levels?
- The northern half, where the guest room is, is built one step higher. With the pressing storehouse to the north, it forms a row of stepped roofs.
- Is the Bitchuya Koso Sake Brewery Zashikigura also called a kurazashiki?
- Setouchi City's page uses kurazashiki, but the official registered name is Zashikigura.
Basic Information
| Name | Bitchuya Koso Sake Brewery Zashikigura |
|---|---|
| Location | 3097-1 Ushimado, Ushimado-cho, Setouchi City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | 2007 (registered) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 60 m², 2-story earthen-walled storehouse |
| Owner | Kouso Shuzo Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Interior closed |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Bitchuya Koso Sake Brewery Zashikigura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00006414
- Cultural Heritage Online: Bitchuya Koso Sake Brewery Zashikigura
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/119487
- Setouchi City: Bitchuya Koso Sake Brewery (Japanese)
- https://www.city.setouchi.lg.jp/soshiki/23/1875.html
- Kouso Shuzo Co., Ltd.: Ushimado, Birthplace of Senju (Japanese)
- https://www.kouso-senju.co.jp/location.html
Last verified: 2026.09.25
