Horikawaya Nomura Second Brewing House: A Taishō Roof Over Rows of Wooden Vats
Look up inside the Second Brewing House at Horikawaya Nomura and the roof tells a different story from the older stores around it. Instead of the heavy raised rafters of the Edo period, the ceiling is carried on a king-post truss, a Western framing method braced here with diagonal struts. Built in the early Taishō era, this brewing house caught the moment when imported engineering began to meet a centuries-old craft, and it did so without changing what happened on the floor below: the slow fermentation of soy sauce in rows of large wooden vats.
The building sits toward the west on the rear side of the main house, running north to south, with its doorway facing east. It is about five bays by four (roughly 72 square metres). A concrete muro, a temperature-held chamber, projects from the southwest corner. The walls are rough-plastered inside and clad in vertical boards outside, and the floor still holds the many wooden barrels used for brewing.
Why It Was Registered
On 7 October 2014, the Second Brewing House joined six other Horikawaya buildings on Japan's register of Tangible Cultural Properties, the first such registrations in Gobo City. This is the lighter, encouragement-based tier of national protection, separate from the designations of Important Cultural Property and National Treasure.
Its particular interest is chronological. Standing beside the Edo-period First Brewing House, it shows how a working brewery absorbed a new structural technology in the early twentieth century while keeping its production unchanged. The king-post truss let the makers roof a clear span efficiently; the wooden vats beneath it carried on exactly as before. As a dated marker within the compound, it helps the whole group read as a layered record of brewing across three eras.
What to Notice on a Visit
The brewery's roots reach back to 1688, when the Horikawaya household ran a coastal shipping business in Gobo and carried local soy sauce and Kinzanji miso to clients in distant Edo. By tradition, a shipwreck in 1756 left the family head adrift as far as Etorofu in the far north; after nearly a year's journey home the family is said to have abandoned shipping for brewing. Roughly eighteen generations on, the soy sauce is still made by hand without additives.
Wooden vats matter here. Soy sauce raised in wood, rather than steel or fibreglass tanks, picks up character from the cultures that live in the timber, and the rows of barrels in this house are part of that living system. The production buildings are not open to the public, but the brewery shop sells the three-star soy sauce and the Kinzanji miso made in these vats, and the street outside lets you take in the brewery's mix of Edo, Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa work standing side by side.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Wakayama
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Horikawaya Nomura Second Brewery
- [ Koyasan & Kumano Kodo World Heritage Trails ]
Q&A
- What makes the Second Brewing House distinctive?
- Its early-Taishō roof uses a Western-style king-post truss with diagonal braces, unusual over a traditional brewing house and a contrast with the older Edo-period stores nearby.
- What is inside?
- Rows of large wooden vats used to brew soy sauce, along with a concrete muro in the southwest corner for temperature control.
- When was it built?
- In the early Taishō era, roughly 1912 to 1918.
- Why brew in wooden vats?
- Wooden vats host microbial cultures in the timber that shape the flavour of the sauce, a method many makers have since replaced with metal or resin tanks.
- Can I visit?
- The brewing houses are working facilities and not open for tours, but the adjoining shop welcomes visitors. Confirm hours before you go.
Basic Information
| Name | Horikawaya Nomura Second Brewing House (Daini Shikomi-gura) |
|---|---|
| Location | 743 Sono, Gobo City, Wakayama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure); registered 7 October 2014; registration no. 30-0197 |
| Registration criterion | Contributing to the historic landscape of the nation |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Structure | Timber, single storey, tiled roof, building area approx. 72 m² |
| Period | Early Taishō era (c. 1912–1918) |
| Access | Working store; not generally open. Adjoining shop open to visitors (verify hours) |
References
- National Database of Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Horikawaya Nomura Second Brewing House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010230
- Cultural Heritage Online (National Institutes for Cultural Heritage)
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/
- Horikawaya Nomura official site
- https://www.horikawaya.com/
Last verified: 2026.06.25