Iimori Sake Brewery Koji Room

A Brick Koji Room in the Southeast Corner

Iimori Sake Brewery Koji Room (飯盛酒造麹室, Iimori Shuzō Kōjishitsu) is a late Taisho-era, single-storey brick building in the southeast corner of the Iimori Sake Brewery lot at 122 Furueda Ko, Kashima City, Saga Prefecture, entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on August 3, 2006. It has a building area of 49 square meters under a tiled roof.

A koji room is where steamed rice is inoculated with koji mold, the culture that turns rice starch into the sugars yeast can ferment. Breweries generally build these rooms with thick walls and ceilings to hold steady warmth and humidity. Of the five registered Iimori buildings, only the Iimori Sake Brewery Koji Room and the chimney are built of brick.

How the Iimori Koji Room Is Built

The Iimori Sake Brewery Koji Room was registered as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as an accent in the view of the east side of the site.

It measures roughly 4 ken by 3 ken (a ken is roughly 1.8 meters), with its ridge running north to south. The north face is joined to the south face of the No. 3 Storehouse, and on the west the No. 2 Storehouse links it to the No. 1 Storehouse. The plan is not a rectangle but a trapezoid, slightly wider on the west, shaped to fit the plot.

The walls are brick, and on top of them sits a timber gabled roof laid with pantiles. The roof is framed with a Western-style Truss, members joined in triangles. Brick walls, a Japanese tiled roof and a Western frame beneath it: the combination shows a Taisho-era brewery adopting new materials and methods.

What to Look For at the Iimori Koji Room

The first thing to see at the Iimori Koji Room is the contrast of brick among plastered and boarded storehouses. The No. 3 Storehouse to the north is earth-walled and the No. 2 Storehouse to the west is timber, so the koji room sits wedged between two buildings of different construction.

Notice the plan as well. The Iimori Koji Room is a trapezoid opening slightly toward the west, and the neighbouring No. 2 Storehouse is trapezoidal too. The shape of the southeast corner of the lot seems to have dictated both plans.

Visiting the Iimori Sake Brewery Koji Room

The Iimori Sake Brewery Koji Room sits in the back corner of the lot and is hard to see from the old Tara road, screened by the main house and the No. 3 Storehouse. The Agency calls it an accent in the view from the east side, but from which road and how well it can be seen has not been confirmed. There is no published offer to show its interior.

Ask at the shop before stepping onto the premises. Iimori Sake Brewery trades as a pickle and sake shop, open during business hours. Directions and opening hours are on the Iimori Sake Brewery page.