Honke Matsuura Sake Brewery Rice Polishing Storehouse

A Late Meiji Rice Polishing House Across the Road

Honke Matsuura Sake Brewery Rice Polishing Storehouse (本家松浦酒造場精米蔵, Honke Matsuura Shuzōjō Seimaigura) is a late Meiji-era building for polishing sake rice in Ikenotani, Ōasa-chō, Naruto City, Tokushima Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 21, 2002. It is a single-storey timber building with a building area of 151 square meters. Naruto City dates it to around 1907.

It stands on its own lot across the Muya Kaidō road, north of the three sake storehouses. Its address is lot 10 in the Ōishi section, not lot 19 in Yanaginomoto like the rest, and of the brewery's five registered buildings, the Honke Matsuura Sake Brewery Rice Polishing Storehouse is the only one on the north side of the road. Its registration number is 36-0037, and it was listed as a contributor to the historic landscape.

The Form of the Rice Polishing Storehouse and Its Raised Roof Vents

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Honke Matsuura Rice Polishing Storehouse has its ridge running east to west under a gabled roof and measures 10 ken long by 2 ken deep, a long, shallow building that turns its long side to the road. A 1.5-ken-wide lean-to (Geya) projects from the south face, and both the main roof and the lean-to are covered in round-and-flat tiles.

Two raised roof vents (Koshi-yane) sit on the ridge. A koshi-yane is a small roof lifted above the main one, generally added to bring in light and let air move. That profile, so different from the storehouses across the road, tells you from outside that this was a workshop for polishing rice.

Naruto City describes the building differently, as single-storey storehouse construction with a Shikoro-buki stepped roof and a raised vent "roughly in the center," which conflicts with the agency's "timber, single storey" and "raised vents in two places." This article follows the agency.

The Plaster Relief Lettering on the Polishing House

What catches the eye first at the Honke Matsuura Sake Brewery Rice Polishing Storehouse is the Kote-e, relief work modeled in white Shikkui plaster on the south wall. The agency records the words meishu ("fine sake") and Narutotai Seimaisho ("Narutotai Rice Polishing Works"). Kote-e, built up with a plasterer's trowel, has long been used to show off a craftsman's skill on storehouse walls and gables.

Narutotai is the brewery's sake label, and according to the brewery's chronology the trademark was approved in 1886. With the brand name spelled out on its wall, the polishing house would have served as a signboard for travelers on the road as well as a workshop.

The brewery's chronology also records the installation of an electric rice polishing machine in 1925. Whether it was placed in this building is not stated in any of the sources.

Visiting the Honke Matsuura Rice Polishing Storehouse

The south face of the Rice Polishing Storehouse looks onto the Muya Kaidō, so the plaster lettering, the lean-to and the roof vents can all be seen from the street. Standing on the south side of the road in front of the storehouses and turning back, you can take in the long side and both vents at once.

We could not confirm whether the interior of the Honke Matsuura Sake Brewery Rice Polishing Storehouse is open to visitors. Ask when booking the brewery's free reservation-only tour (about 45 minutes) whether it is included and whether photography is allowed.