Matsumoto Shuzo: The Historic Brick Chimney and Riverside Cellars
Why is it significant?
Stand upon the eastern bank of the Shin-Takase River and gaze across the water at the iconic architectural silhouette of Matsumoto Shuzo.
Key Facts
| Place | Matsumoto Shuzo: The Historic Brick Chimney and Riverside Cellars |
|---|---|
| Address | 135 Yoko-oji Shimomisucho, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto 612-8205, Japan |
| Geo Coordinates | 34.92600, 135.75300 |
| Part of Walk | Kyoto: Fushimi Sake Cellars, Historic Port Canals and Samurai Inns |
| Generated | Generated |
Stand upon the eastern bank of the Shin-Takase River and gaze across the water at the iconic architectural silhouette of Matsumoto Shuzo. Rising tall against the sky is a monumental red-brick kiln chimney, weathered into soft terracotta hues, with the white characters for Matsumoto painted boldly along its side. Behind it stretch massive wooden brewery buildings with blackened cedar board walls, curved tile eaves, and whitewashed clerestories. In spring, a field of brilliant yellow canola blossoms and flowering cherry trees carpets the riverbank before the dark brewery walls, creating Kyoto's most photographed brewery vista that graces postcards worldwide with idyllic charm.
Founded in seventeen ninety-one in central Kyoto, Matsumoto Shuzo relocated to this strategic riverside site in nineteen twenty-two to access both deep spring water veins and river navigation. The brewery produces the celebrated Sawaya Matsumoto sake, cherished by culinary connoisseurs across the world for its crisp acidity, natural micro-effervescence, and clean mineral finish, pairing wonderfully with fresh Kyoto cuisine and seafood dishes at fine restaurants across Japan. The brewery's historic storehouses and fermenting vats have maintained unbroken brewing traditions through floods, fires, and world conflicts, preserving artisanal purity.
The red-brick chimney, erected in the early twentieth century, is designated as a National Tangible Cultural Property and a Heritage of Industrial Modernization. It was built to vent the massive coal-fired steam boilers used to steam tons of polished sake rice every morning before dawn during the winter brewing season, filling the air with fragrant steam clouds.
Listen to the wind whispering through the weeping willows along the river dike. When the winter wind blows, the sweet, yeasty aroma of steaming Gohyakumangoku sake rice rolls across the river like a warm culinary blanket.
Turn northeast and follow the tranquil historic canal back toward the traditional white brewery walls of Chosho-in.