Meiji

The shop of the Nishioka Honten brewery in Makabe, maker of Hananoi sake since 1782, was once the Shimizuya main house. It joined the national register in 2001.

A compact white-rice storehouse of the Nishioka Honten brewery in Makabe. Near-windowless and set against the shop, it was registered in 2001 and is now a gallery.

The Numajiri storehouse in Kaneda, Tsukuba, is a two-story mid-Meiji building (1868-1911), holding farm tools below and documents above, like the rice store.

The Numajiri rice storehouse in Kaneda, Tsukuba, is a two-story early-Meiji granary (1868-1911). Its gable-entry, boarded form is now remodeled as a cafe.

The Fuchu Homare kamaba in Ishioka, Ibaraki, is an early Meiji earthen building whose raised koshiyane roof vented the steam from rice steamed for sake.

The shikomigura at the heart of the Fuchu Homare brewery in Ishioka, Ibaraki, is a two-story earthen hall of 47.5 by 20 meters, largest of its registered buildings.

The 1869 main house of the Fuchu Homare brewery in Ishioka, Ibaraki, turns a fireproofed north wall to the old provincial street and opens a tour of the brewery.

The tsukiya at the Fuchu Homare brewery in Ishioka, Ibaraki, is a plain mid-Meiji earthen building of 132 sqm where sake rice was hulled and polished before brewing.

The Fuchu Homare nagayamon in Ishioka, Ibaraki, is a small early Meiji timber gate with zelkova posts, said to copy the old checkpoint gate of former Fuchu town.

The Fuchu Homare bunkogura in Ishioka, Ibaraki, is a three-story black-plaster storehouse of 1894, its ridge beam naming the carpenter and plasterer who built it.

The old kettle storehouse of the Buyu brewery in Yuki, Ibaraki. Built in 1904, it held the steaming kettle and recalls a wartime requisition. A Registered Property.

The brewing storehouse of the Buyu brewery in Yuki, Ibaraki. Built in 1909, this single-storey dozo still ferments the winter mash. A Registered Cultural Property.

The product storehouse of the Buyu brewery in Yuki, Ibaraki. A late-Meiji two-storey dozo, it is the largest on site. A Registered Tangible Cultural Property.

The side storehouse of the Buyu brewery in Yuki, Ibaraki. A late-Meiji dozo and the smallest building, it completes the street frontage. A Registered Property.

The Masubuchi Family Residence Main House in Makabe, Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture, is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1873 (Meiji 6). It survives as a complete merchant compound — shop, main house, and long gatehouse — preserving the heritage of Makabe, once a thriving cotton-trade town at the foot of Mount Tsukuba. Explore it together with the surrounding Important Preservation District streetscape.

Built in 1873 in the Makabe preservation district of Sakuragawa, Ibaraki, the Masubuchi family shop is a two-story dozo merchant front on the old street.

Attached to the Masubuchi shop in Makabe, Sakuragawa, this 1873 nagayamon is a compact single-story gate about 6.9 meters wide, built of fine zelkova timber.

The Mamiya Family Residence Main House in Takabu, Hitachiomiya City, Ibaraki Prefecture, is a Meiji-era wood-framed Japanese-Western fusion home built in 1902. Combining a traditional farmhouse-style two-story wing with a striking three-story Western tower painted in pale green, it stands as a vivid landmark in the historic post town of Takabu-juku and was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2003.

Discover Musashiya Shop in Koga, Ibaraki — a Registered Tangible Cultural Property dating to the mid-Meiji period. Dine on traditional grilled eel inside a black-walled, two-story dozo-zukuri restaurant standing on the former Nikko Kaido post-town street.

Discover the Former Yakage Wakihonjin Takakusa Family Residence in Okayama, an Important Cultural Property of nine Edo-era buildings featuring elegant white walls, namako-kabe tilework, and refined sukiya-style reception rooms in Japan's only post town with surviving honjin and wakihonjin.