Nakawa Shoten

The Brewery Buildings of a Sake Maker in Awa-Ikeda

Nakawa Shoten (中和商店, Nakawa Shoten) is a sake brewery in Sarada, Ikeda-cho, Miyoshi City, Tokushima Prefecture, whose office, brewery storehouse, shikomi storehouse, brewers' quarters and chimney were registered in 2019 as five Registered Tangible Cultural Properties.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records all five as owned by Nakawa Shoten. They date from the mid-Meiji period to the end of the Taisho era, with the office altered in 1957.

The brewery's main label is Imakomachi, made in Ikeda with water from the upper Yoshino River and in the cold of the mountain winters.

History

According to the brewery, Nakawa Shoten was founded in 1802 as a maker of shredded tobacco and turned to sake when tobacco became a state monopoly. The company name comes from the first head, Nakamura Waemon.

On when brewing began, the company website gives both 1926 and an entry saying the company was founded under its present name in 1904 and began selling sake under the Imakomachi label.

In an interview with the Miyoshi tourism association, the owner said the brewery still uses the storehouses of the original tobacco works, and that the neighbouring plot is the Miyoshikiku brewery, an unusual case of two breweries side by side.

Layout of the Site

The Agency describes the office facing west onto Sugio-dori in Ikeda, with the brewery storehouse at the centre of the site to its east. A bottling room on the west of the brewery storehouse adjoins the office.

The shikomi storehouse stands at the north edge, meeting the brewery storehouse along part of its south side, and the brewers' quarters stand at the east edge, meeting it on the west. East of the brewery storehouse rises a brick chimney for steam from the boiler room.

Behind the office on the street, the other buildings cluster around the brewery storehouse, gathering everything needed for brewing on one site.

Visiting Nakawa Shoten

Nakawa Shoten is a working brewery, and no official information on visiting the buildings could be found. The tourism association's interview notes that the brewery is opened to the public during the Shikoku Sake Festival held at the end of February each year.

The address is 1756-2 Sarada, Ikeda-cho, Miyoshi City. Enquiries: Nakawa Shoten, 0883-72-0126.