Kuretake Sake Brewery Ichibangura (First Storehouse)

A Meiji Sake Storehouse in Hizen-Hamashuku

The Kuretake Sake Brewery Ichibangura (First Storehouse) (呉竹酒造一番蔵) is a two-storey earthen-walled sake storehouse of the mid-Meiji period in Hizen-Hamashuku, Hamamachi, Kashima City, Saga Prefecture, and was registered with the brewery's main house and east storehouse as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on November 8, 2004. It stands in the Hamanaka-machi Happongi-shuku preservation district for historic buildings, known as Sakagura-dori or Sake Brewery Street (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Kashima City).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as two storeys, earthen-walled, with a tiled roof and a building area of 483 square metres; registration number 41-0050, owned by Kuretake Shuzo.

A Brewery of Hizen-Hamashuku

According to Kashima City, Hamanaka-machi Happongi-shuku grew from an early modern post town into a centre of sake and other brewing, lined with fireproof town houses and large earthen-walled storehouses. Kuretake's main house and east storehouse date from the early Showa period and the first storehouse from the Meiji period, built with fine timbers such as zelkova from many regions.

The brewery no longer makes sake, but its east storehouse has served as a base for town revival, hosting concerts and exhibitions (Kashima City). The main house facing the old Nagasaki Kaido Tara road dates from 1933, and the east storehouse, a fermentation store to the north, from 1930 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Why It Was Registered

The Kuretake Ichibangura was registered as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that, though altered, it is the core building of the brewery.

What to Look For

The Kuretake Ichibangura runs north to south beside the main house, a two-storey building under a hip-and-gable pantiled roof entered at the gable end, nine ken by eight ken (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

A central work floor is flanked on the west, toward the main house, by the rice-washing and steaming areas, while a rice-polishing room and a koji room are attached on the east, following the order of sake making (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It forms part of the white-walled streetscape of Sake Brewery Street (Kashima City).

Visiting

We could not confirm any public opening of the interior of the Kuretake Ichibangura; the exterior can be seen from Sake Brewery Street in Hizen-Hamashuku. The address is 2751 Hamamachi-otsu, Kashima City. For Hizen-Hamashuku, contact the NPO Hizen-Hamashuku Mizu to Machinami no Kai (0954-69-8004) (Kashima City tourism site).