The Bottling Room Behind the Ogawa Main House
Ogawa Sake Brewery Bottling Plant (小川酒造ビン詰場, Ogawa Shuzō Binzumeba) is a Meiji-era brewery building in Kawaramachi, Kurayoshi City, Tottori Prefecture, entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on October 9, 1998. It stands behind the Ogawa family's Main House, at the far end of the earth-floored passage (toriniwa) that runs through the house, and it is where the brewery's sake went into bottles.
The structure field of the Agency for Cultural Affairs database records the Ogawa Sake Brewery Bottling Plant as an earthen-walled Dozo-zukuri building of 2 storeys under a tiled roof, with a building area of 218 square meters. That makes it the third largest of the seven buildings, after the Main House (360 square meters) and the Former Brewing Storehouse (237 square meters), and with the Pressing House one of the two oldest, both dated to the Meiji era.
The commentary attached to the same entry, however, calls it a single-storey timber brewery building with a Japanese Wagoya roof frame of doubled beams. The two descriptions cannot both be right, and the database does not say which reflects the building today. This page uses the structure field in its basic data and reports the commentary alongside it.
Why the Bottling Plant Was Registered
The Agency called the Ogawa Bottling Plant a standard example of warehouse building, one that also shows kinship with agricultural warehouses of the same period. It was not chosen for any unusual design. It was chosen because it shows, without distortion, how a practical Meiji-era warehouse was put together.
It was registered as a building that sets a model for its type, and it is the only one of the six Ogawa storehouses registered under that criterion; the other five were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape. A plain-looking warehouse became a model precisely because it is typical, and that is the point worth taking from its registration.
Kurayoshi City's published list of nationally registered properties (2021) does not include the Ogawa Sake Brewery Bottling Plant, so the current status of the registration needs checking.
The Lean-To and the Working Yard
The west side is where the Ogawa Sake Brewery Bottling Plant shows what it was for. An open working space lies along that side, and a lean-to Geya roof is hung over it. Under that extended roof, bottles and crates could be handled out of the rain and snow.
Across from it stands the Nikaigura, whose east wall carries its own lean-to over a covered porch. With the two roofs facing each other across the same yard, bottling and dispatch could move back and forth under cover.
The Agency's record does not say when this Meiji-era building began to be used for bottling. Its name still marks a stage in the Ogawa family's trade, when sake sold by the measure from casks gave way to bottles that could travel further.
Seeing the Ogawa Bottling Plant
The interior of the Ogawa Sake Brewery Bottling Plant is not open. It sits behind the Main House at the end of the through passage, so it is hidden from Kawaramachi Street.
The grounds are managed by the Kazeno Kurayoshi hotel, whose information says nothing about the use of or access to this building. Ask at the front desk before entering.
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Q&A
- What is the Ogawa Sake Brewery Bottling Plant?
- A Meiji-era building where the Ogawa family of Kawaramachi, Kurayoshi bottled their sake. The Agency database lists it as earthen-walled, 2 storeys, 218 square meters, and it was registered on October 9, 1998.
- Why is the Ogawa Sake Brewery Bottling Plant registered?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs considers it a standard example of warehouse building related to agricultural warehouses of its time, and registered it as a building that sets a model for its type.
- Is the Ogawa Bottling Plant two storeys or one?
- The database's structure field says 2 storeys; the commentary in the same entry says a single-storey timber building. The records disagree, and the present form needs checking.
- What should I notice about the Ogawa Sake Brewery Bottling Plant?
- The lean-to roof over the working space on its west side, which with the covered porch of the Nikaigura opposite shows how goods were handled under cover.
- Can visitors see inside the Ogawa Sake Brewery Bottling Plant?
- No. The interior is not open, it is hidden behind the Main House, and the grounds are managed by the Kazeno Kurayoshi hotel.
Basic Information
| Name | Ogawa Sake Brewery Bottling Plant (小川酒造ビン詰場) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1969 Kawaramachi, Kurayoshi City, Tottori Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registration no. 31-0030 |
| Year Designated | Registered October 9, 1998 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Earthen-walled storehouse, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building area 218 square meters (the commentary says single-storey timber) |
| Owner | Unknown (not listed in the Agency database) |
| Public Access | Closed to the public |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Ogawa Shuzo Binzumeba
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00000890
- Cultural Heritage Online: Ogawa Shuzo Binzumeba
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/185620
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Ogawa Shuzo Nikaigura
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00000893
- Tottori Prefecture, Tottori Cultural Properties Navi: Ogawa Family Residence
- https://db.pref.tottori.jp/bunkazainavi.nsf/bunkazai_web_view/81801E062D55083349257E200010AB92
- Kurayoshi City: Nationally Registered Cultural Properties
- https://www.city.kurayoshi.lg.jp/4237.htm
- Kazeno Kurayoshi official website
- https://www.kazenoheritage.jp/hotels/kurayoshi/
Last verified: 2026.09.30
