The water behind the name Shimizuya
Marumoto Sake Brewery Well and Stone Wall (丸本酒造井戸及び石垣, Marumoto Shuzō Ido oyobi Ishigaki) is an early Taisho stone well and dressed-stone retaining wall at 2485 Yoshimune, Honjo, Kamogata-cho, Asakuchi City, Okayama Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 1 December 2003.
It lies at the northern tip of the compound, at the water source. The well covers 1.8 square metres and has a small timber shelter over it; the retaining wall runs for 30 metres. The two are registered together as one property.
When the Marumoto business was founded in 1867 it traded as Shimizuya, the clear water house, a name the family says came from the quality of its water. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls the well the origin of that name and indispensable to the brewery. Sake-making uses a great deal of water, and the water shapes the taste; for a brewer, the well was both equipment and the starting point of the business.
A crib-built shaft under a tiled shelter
The well is of stone, its shaft built up as a crib: squared stones laid in alternating courses in the pattern of the character 井, which gives a square mouth rather than the round shaft of a well lined in rubble. The mouth of the well is square as a result.
Over it stands a shelter one ken square, about the size of a single bay, with a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof in Hongawarabuki round-and-flat tiles to keep rain and leaves out. Using the more laborious round-and-flat tile on so tiny a structure says something about how the household regarded its well.
South-east of the well, where the ground drops to the paddies, a dressed-stone Ishigaki retaining wall follows the boundary for 30 metres, turning as it goes and holding the bank. It protects the ground around the water source and deals with the drop to the fields.
Indispensable to the brewery
It was registered on 1 December 2003 and gazetted on 25 December, in the thirty-ninth round. Its registration number, 33-0076, is the last of the eleven at the Marumoto compound, and the criterion is contribution to the historic landscape of the nation.
The brewery's history also records that in 1932, while building a new store on the west side, it dug a well and struck a good, plentiful spring. Whether that is the same well as Marumoto Sake Brewery Well and Stone Wall, which the Agency dates to the early Taisho period, cannot be settled from published sources. The compound may have had more than one well at different times.
It is telling that a well and a wall, neither of them a building, were listed alongside the reception wing and the storehouses. Where the brewing water came from, and how the household met the fields: Marumoto Sake Brewery Well and Stone Wall answers both questions, and the compound cannot be fully understood without it.
Visiting
Marumoto Sake Brewery Well and Stone Wall lies at the northern tip of the compound and cannot really be seen from the road. Look for the square, crib-built shaft, the little tiled shelter, and the line of the retaining wall stepping down to the south-east along the edge of the paddies.
The yard is not normally open, 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 Marumoto Sake Brewery Well and Stone Wall be visited?
- It lies at the northern tip of the compound and is hard to see from the road. The yard is open only on the brewery's pre-booked tours, and as of 25 September 2026 no tour dates were scheduled.
- How is Marumoto Sake Brewery Well and Stone Wall connected with the name Shimizuya?
- The brewery traded as Shimizuya, the clear water house, when it was founded, a name said to come from its good water. The Agency for Cultural Affairs identifies this well as the source of that name.
- How is the well at Marumoto Sake Brewery Well and Stone Wall built?
- It is a stone well whose shaft is built as a crib of squared stones, covering 1.8 square metres, under a shelter one ken square with a gabled roof of round-and-flat tiles.
- Where is the retaining wall of Marumoto Sake Brewery Well and Stone Wall?
- South-east of the well, on the lower boundary with the paddies. It is dressed stone and runs for 30 metres, turning as it goes, to hold the bank.
- When was Marumoto Sake Brewery Well and Stone Wall 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 33-0076.
Basic Information
| Name | Marumoto Sake Brewery Well and Stone Wall |
|---|---|
| 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 | Stone well, 1.8 square metres, with timber shelter; retaining wall 30 metres long |
| Owner | Marumoto Shuzo Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | At the water source on the northern tip of the site, hard to see from outside. Access only on pre-booked brewery tours |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Marumoto Sake Brewery Well and Stone Wall (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003705
- Marumoto Shuzo, Okayama Kanko Web (Okayama Tourism Federation)
- https://www.okayama-kanko.jp/spot/detail_11569.html
Last verified: 2026.09.25
