A dog-leg rice store beside the road
Marumoto Sake Brewery South Storehouse (丸本酒造南蔵, Marumoto Shuzō Minamigura) is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri storehouse of the early Taisho period, extended in the early Showa period, at 2485 Yoshimune, Honjo, Kamogata-cho, Asakuchi City, Okayama Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 1 December 2003.
It runs along the road that forms the southern boundary of the site and is laid out on a dog-leg plan. The footprint is 313 square metres. As the store closest to the public road, it is one of the first things you see of the Marumoto compound from outside.
It was built for rice. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records that the western half held rice in storage and the eastern half was the rice-polishing mill. Where the West and East storehouses were for fermentation, Marumoto Sake Brewery South Storehouse was for receiving the raw rice, milling it and sending it on.
A trussed roof and rows of small windows
It is a two-storey earth-walled store with a trussed roof finished as a Kirizuma-zukuri gable in Sangawara-buki pantiles. The same gabled roof is carried round the bend, so the ridge itself kinks.
The walls are what you notice. Along a great length of white Shikkui plaster, small windows are set in a regular row. On the West Storehouse the windows are scattered across the wall; here they are evenly spaced and give the elevation a steady beat, and because the wall runs so far beside the road, that regularity carries the view.
According to the brewery, the upper floor, once part of the mill and rice store, has been converted into a rest area for tour visitors. It is also offered for public-interest events such as meetings, seminars and exhibitions, for up to 60 people, from October to May, with no hire fee though a utilities charge may apply in some seasons; it is not available from June to September, and requests must be made at least two weeks ahead. A listed store has become a place for receiving people as well as rice.
Listed together with the fields
It was registered on 1 December 2003 and gazetted on 25 December, in the thirty-ninth round. The registration number is 33-0075 and the criterion is contribution to the historic landscape of the nation. It was built in the early Taisho period and extended in the early Showa period.
The Agency writes that the long wall with its regular small windows, taken together with the surrounding paddies, creates a landscape of its own. Among the descriptions of all eleven Marumoto registrations, this is the only one that reaches beyond the compound to the countryside around it.
A store for keeping and polishing sake rice, standing beside the fields where rice is grown: the placing of the building shows a brewer's business running from raw material to finished sake.
Visiting
Because Marumoto Sake Brewery South Storehouse runs along the road on the south edge of the site, its exterior can be seen from that road. Stand back a little to take in the wall as it turns its corner, the even row of windows and the fields beside it.
The interior is closed, and the upstairs rest area is used only by tour groups and for public-interest events. As of 25 September 2026 no tour dates were scheduled. No photography policy has been published. 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 Marumoto Sake Brewery South Storehouse be seen from outside?
- Yes. It runs along the road on the south edge of the site, and the exterior can be seen from the road. The interior is closed.
- What was Marumoto Sake Brewery South Storehouse used for?
- The western half stored rice and the eastern half was the rice-polishing mill. The brewery says the upper floor is now a rest area for tour visitors.
- Can the upper floor of Marumoto Sake Brewery South Storehouse be hired?
- The brewery offers it only for public-interest events such as meetings, seminars and exhibitions, for up to 60 people, from October to May, with at least two weeks' notice. It is not available for private parties.
- What is distinctive about the exterior of Marumoto Sake Brewery South Storehouse?
- Its dog-leg plan following the road and the long white wall with a regular row of small windows. The Agency for Cultural Affairs says that, with the surrounding paddies, it creates a landscape of its own.
- When was Marumoto Sake Brewery South Storehouse 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 33-0075.
Basic Information
| Name | Marumoto Sake Brewery South Storehouse |
|---|---|
| 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 | 2-storey dozo-zukuri storehouse, tiled roof, footprint 313 square metres |
| Owner | Marumoto Shuzo Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Interior closed. The exterior can be seen from the road along the south edge of the site |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Marumoto Sake Brewery South Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003704
- Marumoto Shuzo, Okayama Kanko Web (Okayama Tourism Federation)
- https://www.okayama-kanko.jp/spot/detail_11569.html
- Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in Asakuchi City (Asakuchi City Board of Education)
- https://www.city.asakuchi.lg.jp/page/2031.html
Last verified: 2026.09.25
