Naruko Family Residence Sake Brewhouse No. 3

The Largest Building on the Estate

The Naruko Family Residence Sake Brewhouse No. 3 (成子家住宅酒蔵三, Naruko-ke Jūtaku Sakagura San) in Ozaki, Hannan City, Osaka Prefecture, is a Taisho-era (1912–1926) sake brewhouse at the Naniwa Shuzo brewery, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 12 October 2001. A two-storey timber building under a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof of Hongawarabuki tiles, it has a building area of 257 square metres, the largest of the ten registered structures.

It closes off the northwest corner of the compound. The main body measures 12 bays by 6 and a half, and an ancillary storehouse now runs along its north side under an extended Geya lean-to roof, so it occupies the corner as an even bigger mass.

Four brewhouses ring the family's living quarters, and the Naruko Family Residence Sake Brewhouse No. 3 anchors the northwest corner of that ring, with Brewhouses No. 1 and No. 2 to the north and northeast and No. 4 to the southwest.

A Roof Frame Built for Open Floor

The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives the roof structure of this brewhouse unusual attention.

Two bays in from each side wall, a row of posts runs the length of the building, carrying a beam. From the outer wall posts, raking beams climb to meet that beam, and horizontal tie beams span the centre. The inner post rows and the raking beams share the load of a span 6 and a half bays wide.

The result is a long, uninterrupted interior running all 12 bays. Sake brewing needs floor: room for rows of fermentation vats, for carrying steamed rice, for people moving about. The agency stresses the interior space because the carpentry translates directly into a better workroom.

Like its neighbours, it was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The agency dates it to the Taisho era; Naniwa Shuzo describes its brewhouses as more than two centuries old, and the published record does not settle the point.

What to Look For

If you get inside the Naruko Family Residence Sake Brewhouse No. 3, look up first. Trace how the raking beams rise from the wall posts and how the horizontal beams cross the middle, then find the row of posts standing two bays in. Once you see them, the agency's description makes sense in three dimensions.

Then look down the length of the room. Twelve bays is a distance you feel walking from door to back wall. The change in roof height tells you where the main body ends and the north storehouse and lean-to begin.

Seeing the Brewhouse

Brewhouse No. 3 stands at the northwest edge of the compound. Published information does not say how much of it can be seen from outside.

Whether you get in depends on which brewhouses Naniwa Shuzo's paid, reservation-only tour visits; this is not broken down by building, so if the roof frame is what you want to see, mention it when you book. In the winter brewing season you may see work in progress. Ask your guide what you may photograph. Directions and booking details are on the Naruko Family Residence page.