Nagayama Honke Brewery Office (former Futamatase Village

Nagayama Honke Sake Brewery Office (Former Futamatase Village Hall): Where Civic History Meets Sake Tradition

Tucked away in the verdant Futamatase district of northern Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, stands a charming two-story Western-style building that tells a remarkable story of transformation. Originally constructed in 1928 as the Futamatase Village Hall, this structure now serves as the office of Nagayama Honke Sake Brewery — one of the most acclaimed junmai sake producers in Japan. Registered as a national tangible cultural property in 2017, the building offers visitors a rare opportunity to witness early Showa-era civic architecture preserved in near-original condition, all within the atmospheric grounds of a working sake brewery.

A Building Born from Imperial Celebration

The story of this building begins on October 3, 1928 (Showa 3), when it was erected to commemorate the enthronement ceremony (Gotaiten) of Emperor Showa. At that time, Futamatase Village was a rural community in Asa District, formed in 1889 through the merger of five smaller villages — Kida, Yamanaka, Kurumaji, Uryuno, and Zenwa — under the Meiji-era municipal consolidation reforms. The new village hall served as the administrative heart of this farming community nestled along the Koto River, where sake breweries once lined the riverbanks and water wheels turned to polish rice for brewing.

In 1947 (Showa 22), Futamatase Village was incorporated into the expanding city of Ube. With the village government dissolved, the building eventually found new life as the office of Nagayama Honke Sake Brewery, which had been operating on the same grounds since its founding in 1888. This seamless transition from civic function to private enterprise has allowed the building to remain in active use for nearly a century, contributing to its exceptional state of preservation.

Architectural Significance: Why It Became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property

The building was officially registered as a national tangible cultural property (building) on May 2, 2017. Its cultural significance lies in several key factors.

Architecturally, the structure is a wooden two-story building with a gabled roof covered in traditional Japanese pantiles (sankawarabuki). The exterior walls feature mortar plaster carefully scored to imitate stone masonry, a fashionable Western-inspired technique of the era. The main facade is distinguished by a classical pediment crowning the central entrance, with pilaster columns flanking the doorway and marking the four corners of the building. These decorative elements reflect the ambitions of rural communities in early Showa Japan to project modernity and civic dignity through Western architectural vocabulary.

The interior layout faithfully preserves the typical format of village halls from the late Meiji through early Showa periods: the ground floor housed the administrative offices, including the village chief's room, the revenue officer's room, and a kitchen, while the entire second floor was devoted to a single large assembly chamber for the village council. This layout — offices below, legislature above — was the standard configuration for municipal buildings of the era, yet very few examples survive in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The Nagayama Honke building is one of the rare structures that retains this configuration in a condition close to its original state, making it an invaluable document of local governance architecture.

Highlights and Points of Interest

Visitors to the Nagayama Honke Sake Brewery grounds can appreciate the cultural property building as part of a broader landscape that includes the brewery's historic warehouses, brewing facilities, and the scenic Koto River setting. The building's exterior is particularly photogenic, with its faux-stone mortar walls, classical pediment, and tiled roof creating a striking contrast against the surrounding rural scenery of rice paddies and forested hills.

While the interior is used as the brewery's working office, the building's architectural features — the pilaster columns, the entrance composition, and the overall proportions — can be fully appreciated from the outside. Visitors combining a cultural property visit with a brewery tour can gain an even richer understanding of how local history, architecture, and sake-making tradition are woven together at this site.

Nagayama Honke Sake Brewery: The Living Heritage of "Taka"

The Nagayama Honke Sake Brewery was founded in 1888 (Meiji 21) by Nagayama Kitsutaro. For over 130 years, the brewery has drawn its water from the Koto River, which flows from the Akiyoshidai karst plateau — one of the largest limestone plateaus in Japan. The water, naturally filtered through 300-million-year-old coral reef limestone, carries a rich mineral content, particularly calcium, that gives the brewery's sake a distinctive clarity and structured texture.

Under fifth-generation brewer Nagayama Takahiro, the brewery launched its flagship brand "Taka" (貴) in 2002, embracing a philosophy of "healing and rice flavor" (iyashi to komiaji). In 2003, "Taka" was recognized as the top sake in a regional hidden gems category by a leading food magazine, catapulting the brand to national recognition. Since 2015, the brewery has committed exclusively to junmai (pure rice) sake production, eliminating all added brewing alcohol.

In 2019, the brewery established Domaine Taka, an agricultural corporation dedicated to growing its own sake rice — particularly Yamada Nishiki — on local fields. This "from the field to the bottle" approach echoes the terroir philosophy of European wineries and reflects the brewery's deep commitment to preserving the agricultural landscape of the Futamatase area. Brewery tours are available by reservation, and visitors can enjoy sake tastings of the "Taka" and "Otokoyama" brands on site.

Nearby Attractions and Area Information

The Nagayama Honke Sake Brewery is situated in the northern part of Ube City, providing easy access to some of Yamaguchi Prefecture's most celebrated natural and cultural landmarks.

• Akiyoshidai Karst Plateau & Akiyoshido Cave — Located approximately 30 minutes north by car, Akiyoshidai is Japan's largest karst plateau, a Special Natural Monument featuring sweeping grasslands dotted with limestone pinnacles. Below it lies Akiyoshido, one of Japan's largest limestone caves. The mineral-rich water flowing from this plateau is the very source of the Koto River that supplies the brewery.
• Tokiwa Park — A large urban park in central Ube featuring a zoo, botanical garden, sculpture museum, and lakeside walks. Known for its outdoor sculpture collection, which is one of the largest in Japan.
• Ube City Outdoor Sculpture — Ube is renowned as a "City of Sculptures," with artworks displayed throughout the city, a legacy of the Ube Biennale international sculpture competition held since 1961.
• Kotounomori Park (Koto River area) — An environmental education and recreation facility near the brewery, offering camping, birdwatching, and nature experiences along the Ono Lake area.
• Beppu Benten Pond — A stunningly blue spring-fed pond near Akiyoshidai, designated as a natural monument, where visitors can also take home the mineral water.