A Roof That Grew With the Brewing
Behind the street front of Shimomori Brewery, past a working yard west of the main house, stands the old sake storehouse (旧酒蔵, kyu-sakagura). At 444 square metres it is the largest building in the compound, a two-storey timber structure raised in the early Meiji period, between 1868 and 1911. This is where the brewing happened, and the building wears that history in its roofline.
At the core is a gabled brewing hall, the sakagura-ko (酒蔵庫), from which the roof sweeps down to north and south. At the southwest corner a smaller gable pushes out to shelter the koji room (麹室), where steamed rice is inoculated with the mould that begins fermentation. Along the west face, further north-south gables were added later. The result is a roof of many angles, assembled not to a single plan but through repeated extension as the business demanded more space.
Reading the Additions
The official record notes that the central brewing hall is the oldest part and that the complex roof took shape through successive enlargements. That single line explains much of what the eye sees. A rural brewery did not build all at once; it added a fermentation room here, a storage bay there, each junction leaving a seam in the roof. What looks irregular is in fact a record of a family trade expanding over decades.
The walls were originally arakabe (荒壁), the rough earthen plaster laid over a bamboo lattice before any finish coat. Keeping that early wall construction visible is part of why the building was registered in 2008 under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape.
What to Notice on a Visit
From the road, follow how the roofs step and overlap. The koji room's projecting gable is worth finding, because it marks the single most temperature-sensitive space in any brewery, the room where the character of the sake begins. Set against the smaller, tidier storehouses nearby, the sprawling roof of the sake store shows the difference between a building for keeping things and a building for making them.
The brewery remains in operation, so view the storehouse from the public road and treat the yard as private. Seen with the main house to its east and the tall chimney to the south, the old sake storehouse anchors the industrial half of the compound, under the same Sekishu red pantiles (石州赤瓦) that unify the group.
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- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Shimomori Brewery Former Sake Storehouse
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Q&A
- Why is the roof so irregular?
- The central brewing hall came first, and the building was enlarged repeatedly over time. Each addition left its own gable, producing the complex roofline seen today.
- What is the koji room?
- The koji-muro is where steamed rice is cultured with koji mould, the step that converts starch to sugar. It needs steady warmth, so it sits in its own projecting gable.
- How big is the building?
- Its floor area is 444 square metres, the largest of the seven registered Shimomori buildings.
- Is it still used for brewing?
- Shimomori remains an operating sake producer. As the interior is a private workplace, please view the storehouse from the road.
Basic Information
| Name | Shimomori Brewery Former Sake Storehouse (下森酒造場旧酒蔵) |
|---|---|
| Location | 992 Tateyama-no-Fumoto, Sabumi, Tsuwano, Kanoashi District, Shimane |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building) |
| Registered | 8 July 2008 (gazette notice 23 July 2008) |
| Registration No. | 32-0077 |
| Period | Early Meiji (1868-1911) |
| Structure | Timber, two storeys, tiled roof; floor area 444 m² |
| Criterion | Contributing to the historic landscape |
| Access | Working brewery; exterior viewing from the public road |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties (ACA) — Shimomori Brewery Former Sake Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00007312
- Cultural Heritage Online — Shimomori Brewery Former Sake Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/120184
- Tsuwano Cultural Portal — Registered Cultural Properties
- https://tsuwano-bunka.net/cultural-property/
Last verified: 2026.07.06