A Red Column Among White Walls
Rising eleven meters at the northern edge of the Fujii Honke grounds, the brick chimney is the one vertical accent in a compound of long, low storehouses. Its shaft is square in plan, about 1.3 meters to a side, and it stands between the brewing storehouse and the finished-sake storehouse, connected to the kettle room, the kamaba, where rice was steamed for brewing. Against the sweeping white plaster and tiled roofs of the storehouses on either side, the exposed red brick reads as a deliberate contrast.
The chimney dates to around 1923, in the late Taishō era, with repairs carried out in the earlier part of the Shōwa period. It was built at the same moment as the east storehouse group it serves, part of a single campaign of construction that gave the working half of the brewery its present shape.
Laid in English Bond
The brickwork follows the pattern known in Japan as Igirisu-zumi, English bond, in which courses of bricks laid end-on alternate with courses laid lengthwise. This was the sturdy, orderly bonding favored for industrial and public brickwork in Meiji and Taishō Japan, and it gives the shaft its regular banded texture. For a functional flue attached to a steam kettle, the care taken in the coursing is notable in itself.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs registered the chimney in October 2008, in the round that added the east storehouse buildings to the earlier residential registrations. Its listed value lies in its contribution to the historical landscape: a brick industrial marker that fixes the character of a working sake yard in a single upright form.
Where to Stand
Fujii Honke has brewed here under the Kyokujitsu label since 1831, and the chimney is a working part of the yard rather than a monument set apart. Free brewery tours run by reservation, and the chimney is easiest to take in from the north side of the grounds, where it rises between the two great storehouses. Because brewing follows the season, roughly November to early March, the buildings are busiest and most legible in winter.
Look at how the brick meets the plastered gable of the sake storehouse beside it. The junction of two very different materials, fired red brick and lime-white plaster, is the detail the registration singles out, and it is best appreciated from a distance where both the chimney and its neighbors sit in one frame.
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Q&A
- What was the chimney used for?
- It served the kettle room of the sake storehouse, venting the fires used to steam rice for brewing. It connects directly to that kamaba.
- What is English bond?
- A brickwork pattern, Igirisu-zumi in Japanese, that alternates courses of end-on bricks with courses laid lengthwise. It was common for industrial brick in the Meiji and Taishō eras.
- How tall is it, and when was it built?
- About eleven meters, square in plan at roughly 1.3 meters a side. It dates to around 1923, with repairs in the earlier Shōwa period.
- Why is it a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- Registered in October 2008, it is valued for its contribution to the historical landscape, its red brick setting off the white storehouses of a working sake yard.
- Can visitors see it?
- Yes, on the free brewery tour offered by reservation. It is best viewed from the north side of the grounds, between the two storehouses.
Basic Information
| Name | Fujii Honke East Storehouse, Chimney (Fujii Honke Higashigura Entotsu) |
|---|---|
| Location | 601 Nagano, Aishō-chō, Echi District, Shiga Prefecture |
| Category | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Registered | October 23, 2008 |
| Count | 1 unit |
| Structure | Brick, height approx. 11 m; square shaft about 1.3 m per side, English bond |
| Date | Built c. 1923 (Taishō); repaired in the earlier Shōwa period |
| Registration criterion | Contributes to the historical landscape of the nation |
| Access | About 6 min by taxi from JR Inae Station; about 15 min on foot from Aichigawa Station (Ōmi Railway) |
| Owner / operator | Fujii Honke (sake brewery) |
References
- Fujii Honke — official website
- https://www.fujiihonke.jp/
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database — Fujii Honke Higashigura Entotsu
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00007371
- Shiga Prefecture Tourism Information — Fujii Honke
- https://www.biwako-visitors.jp/spot/detail/1075/
Last verified: 2026.07.04