Former Kagamiyama Sake Brewery Taisho Storehouse

The Storehouse Where Sake Was Bottled

The Former Kagamiyama Sake Brewery Taisho Storehouse (旧鏡山酒造大正蔵) is a sake storehouse of the early Taisho 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 Taisho-gura, and it now houses the restaurant 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 304 square metres; registration number 11-0114.

A Tall Core with Broad Lean-tos

The Former Kagamiyama Sake Brewery Taisho Storehouse stands east of the Meiji Storehouse, its ridge running east to west (Agency for Cultural Affairs). A tall central block under a gabled roof of interlocking pantiles carries large lean-to roofs (Geya) on its north and south sides, bringing the whole to 22 metres by 14 metres. The walls are Shikkui lime plaster over a weatherboard skirting, while the north and south faces of the central block are built in the Shinkabe manner, with timber showing along the eaves.

Both the Agency and Koedo Kurari date it to the early Taisho era. Koedo Kurari notes that the interior of the Taisho Storehouse is a single open space that has hardly been altered, the classic form of a sake storehouse. In the brewery's working years it was the last stop before shipping, where finished sake was stored, bottled and packed.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency notes that, for all its size, the Taisho Storehouse feels light, thanks to the exposed framing of the central block and the timber at the eaves, and registered it for its contribution to the historic landscape. Set beside the heavy gable of the Meiji Storehouse, it shows how the same storehouse type changed its character from one era to the next.

What to Look For

From outside, look at the two-tier roof, with the tall central block rising over the low lean-tos, and at the timber that shows beneath the upper eaves (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Inside, one broad room runs the length of the building. Because the Taisho Storehouse has been altered so little, you get a true sense of the space in which sake was once stored and bottled (Koedo Kurari).

Visiting

The Taisho Storehouse is Koedo Kurari's restaurant, Hasshutei. It is open from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on weekdays, and from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on weekends and holidays; booking is recommended at busy times (Koedo Kurari). Coming in for a meal is the way to see the interior.

A stage inside the storehouse hosts occasional recitals of traditional music and festival drumming (Koedo Kurari). No official guidance on photography was found.