Yano Sake Brewery East Storehouse

A 1916 Brewing Storehouse, Now a Product Store

The Yano Sake Brewery East Storehouse (矢野酒造東蔵, Yano Shuzō Higashigura) is a two-storey earthen storehouse of 1916 at Yano Sake Brewery in Takatsuhara, Kashima City, Saga Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 3, 2006. Built for brewing, it now holds finished sake.

It stands near the center of the plot, west of the annex, with its ridge running north to south and a building area of 281 square meters. The middle storehouse lies alongside to the west, and a doorway links the two.

White Plaster over Weatherboards

The Yano Sake Brewery East Storehouse measures 11 Ken by 5 ken, about 20.0 by 9.1 meters if one ken is 1.82 meters, under a gabled pantiled roof (Kirizuma-zukuri, Sangawara-buki).

The walls are white lime plaster (Shikkui), with the lower part protected by overlapping horizontal boards (Shitami-itabari) where rain splashes up. White above and weathered timber below give the long flanks their look.

The roof is carried on a traditional Japanese truss (Wagoya) in which short posts stand on the tie beams, spanning the full 5-ken width.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs database lists the structure as a Dozo-zukuri earthen storehouse in one field and as a wooden building in its description. There is no conflict: dozo-zukuri means a timber frame sealed in thick clay walls.

From Fermentation to Storage

A brewing storehouse is where steamed rice, koji and water are mixed into mash and left to ferment. The Yano Sake Brewery East Storehouse was built for that work but is now a store for finished sake awaiting shipment.

On the north side of its east doorway are an inspection room and an analysis room, placed where finished sake passes in and out. They likely belong to the storehouse's later role in storage and shipping; the description gives no date for them.

Registration and the Year 1916

The Yano Sake Brewery East Storehouse is registration number 41-0056, listed for contributing to the historic landscape of the nation.

The brewery says its Takenosono label was named to celebrate the enthronement of Emperor Taishō, whose enthronement ceremony took place in 1915. The storehouse went up the following year, though no source connects the new label with the new building.

Seeing the East Storehouse

The Yano Sake Brewery East Storehouse stands in the middle of the plot, largely hidden from the old road by the main house and annex. It is in daily use as a product store, and no public access to the interior is announced.

The brewery directs visitors to Tatsumi no Kura in the former rice mill. Tourism sites mention booked brewery tours without saying which buildings they include, so ask whether this storehouse can be seen when you book, and check the rules on photography at the same time.