Former Brewing Research Institute First Factory

A Brick Sake Plant Modelled on German Breweries

The Former Brewing Research Institute First Factory (旧醸造試験所第一工場) is a sake brewing research plant designed by Tsumaki Yorinaka of 1904 in Takinogawa, Kita Ward, Tokyo, and was designated an Important Cultural Property on December 10, 2014 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a brick building with a building area of 923.30 square metres, made up of brewing, stair, koji-making and machinery sections; designation number 02618.

A National Institute for Sake Research

The Brewing Research Institute was founded by the Meiji government to study sake and improve brewing techniques and quality (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The First Factory, its central building, is a large brick structure completed in 1904 to the design of Tsumaki Yorinaka, an engineer of the Finance Ministry.

Why It Is an Important Cultural Property

The Agency values it technically as a sake plant with the most advanced equipment of its day and as a large composite brick building, and historically as the plant of the only national brewing research institute, which helped modernise sake making and the drinks industry.

Cavity Walls and Brick Vaults

The thick walls are built as cavity walls with an air gap for insulation, the ceilings are vaulted, and the upper floor rests on brick vaults spanning steel beams, showing advanced building skills (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Tsumaki adapted the design from German beer breweries.

What to Look For

Look for the large brick exterior and the cavity walls and vaulted ceilings (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

It is owned by the State through the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Agency for Cultural Affairs). No official information on public access was found.