Home/Kochi/Sakawa/Sakawa Sake Warehouse Street

Sakawa Sake Warehouse Street

SakawaTsukasabotansake warehousesMakino Tomitarocastle town

Kochi · Sakawa

33.5007°N, 133.2976°E

Sakawa was the castle town of the Fukao family, chief retainers of the Tosa domain, and the merchants who settled along its main street built the white-walled storehouses that still line it. The local name is Sakagura no Michi, the road of sake warehouses, because the dominant business was and is Tsukasabotan, a brewery in its fifth century of operation.

The other thing Sakawa produced was Makino Tomitaro, the botanist who described and named more Japanese plants than anyone else. He was born here into a sake-brewing merchant family; the family business closed when he left for Tokyo and its brewery buildings passed to Tsukasabotan, which still uses them. The street is five minutes from the station, free to walk, and includes a preserved merchant house, a former school building and the botanical garden that carries his name.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

Street open at all times | Brewery and museum buildings keep their own hours

Closed: Open year-round | Individual buildings vary

Entrance Fee

Free to walk | Brewery and museum buildings charged separately

Best Season

Year-round | Winter for the brewing season

Visit Duration

60–90 minutes

Getting There

Access Information

Ko, Sakawa, Takaoka District. About 5 minutes on foot from JR Sakawa Station on the Dosan Line, 35 minutes by car from Ino IC, or by Kuroiwa bus to the Tsubone-mae stop then 3 minutes on foot. Free to walk the street. Tsukasabotan and individual museum buildings keep their own hours and charges.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Five minutes from the station, which is unusual.** Most preserved streets in Kochi need a car. This one does not — the Dosan Line from Kochi city drops you at the end of it. **Tsukasabotan has been brewing for over four centuries.** The warehouses on the street are working buildings, and the company has a shop. Ask about tasting rather than assuming. **Makino was born here.** The botanist whose name is on Kochi's botanical garden came from a sake merchant family on this street, and the connection to the brewery is direct — his family's brewing operation was absorbed into Tsukasabotan. **There is more than the main street.** A preserved merchant residence, a Meiji-era school building and a small botanical garden are all within a few minutes. **Free to walk.** Individual buildings charge; the street costs nothing and is the substance of the visit.

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