A single-storey house for steaming rice
Marumoto Sake Brewery Kettle Room (丸本酒造釜場, Marumoto Shuzō Kamaba) is a single-storey timber rice-steaming house of about 1932 at 2485 Yoshimune, Honjo, Kamogata-cho, Asakuchi City, Okayama Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 1 December 2003.
In a sake brewery the kamaba is where water is boiled in a kettle and the steam used to cook the rice. Steamed rice goes on to become koji or to be added to the fermenting mash, so this is where the brewing process begins. Marumoto Sake Brewery Kettle Room stands at the south-west corner of the site against the south gable of the West Storehouse, the main fermentation store. Its footprint is 104 square metres.
It is one of the later buildings in the group. The brewery's own history records that between 1932 and 1936 it brought in new brewing equipment and put up new buildings to raise output, and the kettle room dates from the start of that push.
A trapezoid plan and an off-centre monitor
The plan is a trapezoid. Tucked into the south-west corner, the walls simply follow the line of the plot rather than forcing a rectangle onto it, and the shape of the land is written into the building.
The roof is Kirizuma-zukuri gabled and covered in Sangawara-buki pantiles. Slightly west of centre it carries a ventilating monitor, a second, smaller roof raised above the ridge with open sides, which lets out the great volume of steam produced when rice is cooked without letting in the rain. Its off-centre position probably follows the position of the kettle inside, though no record confirming this has been found.
The roof frame is a truss. Keeping the floor clear for kettle and steaming tub calls for a structure with few intermediate posts. Everything else, as the Agency for Cultural Affairs points out, is traditional: from outside it is a familiar brewery outbuilding, a tiled gable with a monitor on top.
A proper brewery building
It was registered on 1 December 2003 and gazetted on 25 December, in the thirty-ninth round. The registration number is 33-0070 and the criterion is contribution to the historic landscape of the nation.
The Agency says Marumoto Sake Brewery Kettle Room gives exactly the look a brewing works should have. The steam monitor is what lets you pick out a brewery roofline from a distance, and here that form comes straight out of the work being done inside.
Its position matters too. Steamed rice is cooled and carried to the koji room and the fermentation store; setting the kettle room against the fermentation store keeps that journey short. Seen together with the West Storehouse, the kettle room lets you read the order of the process.
Visiting
Marumoto Sake Brewery Kettle Room stands at the south-west corner of the site against the south gable of the West Storehouse. The feature to look for is the monitor, a step in the roofline a little west of the middle of the ridge. The trapezoid plan shows in the skewed line of the outer walls.
The interior is closed, and because the brewery's pre-booked tours follow the brewing process, a tour will not necessarily stop here. As of 25 September 2026 no tour dates were scheduled. No photography policy has been published, so ask when booking. Directions and visiting conditions for the whole site are on the Marumoto Family Residence and Marumoto Sake Brewery page. Details were checked on 25 September 2026.
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Q&A
- Can you go inside Marumoto Sake Brewery Kettle Room?
- No. The interior is closed, and pre-booked tours follow the brewing process, so they may not stop here. As of 25 September 2026 no tour dates were scheduled.
- What was Marumoto Sake Brewery Kettle Room used for?
- Steaming rice for sake. Water was boiled in a kettle and the steam used to cook the rice, and a monitor on the roof let the steam escape.
- When was Marumoto Sake Brewery Kettle Room built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to around 1932.
- Why is Marumoto Sake Brewery Kettle Room trapezoid in plan?
- According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, it follows the shape of the plot at the south-west corner of the site.
- When was Marumoto Sake Brewery Kettle Room registered as a cultural property?
- It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure), registered on 1 December 2003 and gazetted on 25 December of that year in the thirty-ninth round, with registration number 33-0070.
Basic Information
| Name | Marumoto Sake Brewery Kettle Room |
|---|---|
| Location | 2485 Yoshimune, Honjo, Kamogata-cho, Asakuchi City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2003/12/1 (Heisei 15) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber building, tiled roof, footprint 104 square metres |
| Owner | Marumoto Shuzo Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Interior closed. Stands at the south-west corner of the site against the south gable of the West Storehouse |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Marumoto Sake Brewery Kettle Room (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003699
- Marumoto Shuzo, Okayama Kanko Web (Okayama Tourism Federation)
- https://www.okayama-kanko.jp/spot/detail_11569.html
Last verified: 2026.09.25
