Horino Memorial Museum

Inside the Museum

1. Kyoto Machiya Beer Brewery

Kyoto beer born from a warehouse with a history of preserving Kyoto brewed sake

This warehouse was used to store the sake that our predecessors made from time-honored tradition. Without altering the structure of the warehouse, we brought in equipment for the brewing of local beer. Kinshi Masamune’s beer is brewed in an environment perfectly befitting a locally brewed Kyoto beer. You can leisurely tour the premises and see just how it is made.

While beer is traditionally brewed using bottom fermentation techniques, we chose to use top fermentation to produce an original beer that is aromatic and full-bodied, and suited to the food culture of Kyoto. Our brewers drew upon their skills and our tradition of fermentation to develop a beer that is robust yet delicate enough for Kyoto cuisine.

2. Kura

Bunko Warehouse

This sake warehouse was constructed using fireproofing techniques that saved it and the sake inside from conflagrations resulting from political turmoil in 1864. It now houses maps showing the original location of the brewery, historical documents describing transitions and developments in sake brewing, and other related items of interest.

Tenmei Warehouse

Original tools and important artifacts once used in the sake brewing process are on display here so that you can get a feel for how sake was once produced.

3. The “Peach Tree Well”

The “Peach Tree Well” got its name from the fact that it is located beneath a peach tree. The water flows out at a rate of 3 tons per minute, maintaining a temperature of 16℃ all year round. It now provides the water that makes delicious machiya beer. Born on the foundations of traditional sake brewing, machiya beer would never have been created were it not for this “water of life” that produced the crisp flavor that characterizes the many famous types of sake produced by Kinshi Masamune.

Garden

Peering out through the sliding screens of a tatami-mat room onto the Tsurukame Garden (literally, crane and tortoise garden) with its stone lantern and steppingstones gives you a feel for the elegance and sense of beauty that is particular to Kyoto. The rustic footpath leading to the Bunko Warehouse and the sound of water coming from the Peach Tree Well create a relaxing oasis within the surrounding city.

4. The former residence of the Horino family

1st Floor		2nd Floor
1st Floor Salon This salon looks out onto the Tsurukame Garden. The traditional shoin-zukuri style architecture features a well-balanced blend of woods and architectural elements that provided respite to guests who travelled long distances to get here.	1st Floor Office The latticework of the windows is very functional in that it allows light and air to enter while protecting the privacy of the occupants.	2nd Floor Guest Room Special room for receiving important guests. The elegance of this room is visually understated, but it epitomizes the advanced building techniques and aesthetics appreciated by Kyoto merchant families. Saya-no-ma (Scabbard Room) A long narrow room adjoining the main guest room and shaped like a scabbard. This room was used to perform Kyoto-based dances for welcoming guests.	Second floor attic room These are the vertical openings that serve as windows in the second story of machiya architecture. The outer slats are made of wood that is wrapped in straw, covered in mud and then covered in plaster for preventing fire. It was so called because it looks like an insect-cage.

5. Shop

The entrance door opens to a long earthen-floor hallway in which you will find, in addition to the items for sale, displays describing traditional machiya architecture and the history of sake production.