What Is the Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse?
The Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse (杉田酒造大谷石蔵, Sugita Shuzō Ōya-ishigura) is a single-story stone and timber storehouse built around 1947 at the Sugita Sake Brewery in Kamiizumi, Oyama City, Tochigi Prefecture, and has been a Registered Tangible Cultural Property since 2013.
Ōya stone is quarried around Ōya in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture. The Agency for Cultural Affairs places the Oya Stone Storehouse on the north side of the property and gives its size as 10.0 m long and 6.53 m deep, with a building area of 65 m², the smallest of the four registered buildings. The gabled roof is sheet metal; Tochigi Prefecture specifies standing-seam sheets painted silver, with decorative rafters left exposed under the eaves.
The national database dates it to around 1947, and the prefecture gives 1946 to 1947.
Why the Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse Was Registered
The Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse grew out of the food shortages that followed the Second World War. According to the prefecture, sweet potatoes were then grown across Tochigi as a substitute for rice, and Sugita used them to make shochu. The building housed the muro, an insulated chamber, for that work. The Agency for Cultural Affairs highlights its insulation-minded construction and calls it a stone storehouse that reflects the food situation of the time.
It was registered on March 29, 2013, with the brewery's three other storehouses, for its contribution to the historic landscape. Among four registered buildings otherwise dominated by earthen storehouses, the Oya Stone Storehouse is the only postwar one, and it shows how a sake brewery adapted when rice could not be used freely.
Walls and Chamber Remains of the Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse
The first thing you notice about the Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse is that its walls change material halfway up. The prefecture's notes say that from the concrete foundation to a height of about 5 shaku (about 1.5 m), the walls are coursed blocks of Ōya stone with a chisel-worked face. Above that sits roughly another 5 shaku of timber-framed Shinkabe wall, earthen plaster finished in lime. The windows are pairs of sliding board shutters 3 shaku (about 0.9 m) wide, two on the north side and one on the east.
Only the north wall has buttresses: two of Ōya stone, roughly dividing the wall into thirds, about 8 shaku (about 2.4 m) high and projecting about 3 shaku.
Inside, the floor is concrete, and the concrete footing of the old chamber still shows about 1 shaku 5 sun (about 45 cm) in from the outer walls. Rice husks are said to have been packed into the gap between the chamber and the wall as insulation, and the line of that footing on the floor is the clearest trace of how the chamber was wrapped in stone and husks. The roof rests on Western-style king post trusses set every 1 ken and spanning 3.5 ken, with purlins at 3-shaku intervals under the sheet-metal roof.
Visiting the Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse
The Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse stands on the grounds of a working brewery and is not regularly open. Tochigi Prefecture lists it as viewable on request through the owner, and the brewery runs tours by reservation only. The chamber footing and the trusses can be seen only from inside, so mention them when booking and ask whether photography is allowed.
The south side of the roof meets the Storage Storehouse, and a single hinged wooden door opens into the north side of that older building. Because the buttresses are on the north wall only, you need to walk around to the north to see the whole exterior of the Oya Stone Storehouse.
Q&A
- What was the Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse built for?
- It was built during the postwar food shortages to house a chamber (muro) for making shochu from sweet potatoes, which were grown as a substitute for rice.
- When was the Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse built?
- The national database says around 1947, and Tochigi Prefecture gives 1946 to 1947.
- How are the walls of the Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse built?
- The lower part, about 5 shaku (about 1.5 m) high, is coursed Ōya stone; above it is about 5 shaku of timber-framed earthen wall. Two Ōya stone buttresses about 8 shaku (about 2.4 m) high stand on the north side.
- Can I go inside the Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse and take photos?
- Brewery tours are by reservation only and free, according to the brewery. Confirm when you book whether the interior can be shown and whether photography is allowed.
- How was the Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse insulated?
- The chamber was set about 1 shaku 5 sun (about 45 cm) inside the outer walls, and rice husks are said to have filled the gap as insulation. The chamber's concrete footing is still visible on the floor.
Basic Information
| Name | Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse |
|---|---|
| Location | 237 Kamiizumi Honzawa, Oyama City, Tochigi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | 2013 (registered March 29, 2013) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Length 10.0 m, depth 6.53 m; building area 65 m² |
| Owner | Sugita Shuzo Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Not regularly open (brewery tours by reservation only, arranged with the owner) |
References
- Cultural Properties Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009434
- Cultural Heritage Online: Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/206317
- Tochigi Prefecture, Tochigi Cultural Properties: Sugita Sake Brewery Oya Stone Storehouse (Japanese)
- https://bunkazai.pref.tochigi.lg.jp/cultural/%E3%80%90%E6%9D%89%E7%94%B0%E9%85%92%E9%80%A0%E5%A4%A7%E8%B0%B7%E7%9F%B3%E8%94%B5%E3%80%91/
Last verified: 2026.10.09
