Former Kagamiyama Sake Brewery Meiji Storehouse

The Oldest of the Three Storehouses

The Former Kagamiyama Sake Brewery Meiji Storehouse (旧鏡山酒造明治蔵) is a sake storehouse of the mid-Meiji era in Shintomicho, Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on March 7, 2008 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Locally it is called the Meiji-gura, and it now houses the souvenir hall of Koedo Kurari.

The Agency records a Dozo-zukuri storehouse of 2 storeys, partly single-storey, with a tiled roof and a building area of 418 square metres; registration number 11-0113.

A Great Gable Facing South

The Former Kagamiyama Sake Brewery Meiji Storehouse stands on the west side of a site that faces a street to the west, its ridge running north to south (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It has a gabled roof of interlocking pantiles and is entered at the gable end (Tsumairi). Deep lean-to roofs (Geya) wrap the east, west and north sides, so that the whole building measures 21 metres by 20 metres. The walls are finished in Shikkui lime plaster above a skirting of horizontal weatherboards, and inside, the posts and beams are left exposed in the Shinkabe manner.

The dating is not settled. The Agency places the Meiji Storehouse in the mid-Meiji era, while Koedo Kurari dates it to the early Meiji era and says the brewery built its storehouses on this site in about 1875. Either way, it is the oldest of the three registered storehouses.

In the brewing years the Meiji Storehouse held the Kojimuro, the warm room where rice koji was cultivated. Mash prepared in the Showa Storehouse also came back here to be pressed, blended and filtered into finished sake (Koedo Kurari).

Why It Was Registered

The Agency singles out the large gable wall of the south front, which gives the building a heavy, settled presence, and registered it for its contribution to the historic landscape. Of the three storehouses, it is the one that stands along the street.

What to Look For

Walk round to the south front to see the white gable wall rise above the low lean-to roofs on either side (Agency for Cultural Affairs). From here the change from the dark weatherboard skirting to the white plaster above is easy to read.

Once inside, look up. Koedo Kurari describes the roof frame as a bold lattice of timbers used with their natural curves intact. The mark of Kyūboshi, the brewery's original trade name, still survives inside the storehouse.

Visiting

The Meiji Storehouse is Koedo Kurari's souvenir hall, with a shop selling the sake of Koedo Kagamiyama Shuzo, a café, and a counter of local sweets and crafts. It is open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and you can walk in and look at the interior while it is open (Koedo Kurari).

The sake shop has a paid tasting corner (Koedo Kurari). No official guidance on photography was found, so ask the staff before taking pictures inside.