Deep Shimane you don't know about - Unshu Hirata "Cotton Road" where new stories exist in history

A tour of sake-related spots in Izumo, the birthplace of Japanese sake: Saka Shrine, Sakamochida Main Store, and RITA Izumo Hirata Sakamochida Brewery

The Izumo region of Shimane Prefecture is said to be the birthplace of sake. The reason for this is a passage from the Izumo no Kuni Fudoki, a geographical record from about 1,300 years ago, which states, "Eight million gods gathered in this place to brew sake and hold a drinking party for 180 days." We visited Saka Shrine in Kosakai Town, Hirata area, the land of this legend.
Saka Shrine appears in the aforementioned Izumo no Kuni Fudoki as "Sakayasha" and enshrines Kusu no Kami, the god of sake brewing. The shrine's name, "Saka" meaning "sake," also suggests that it is a shrine related to sake.
This historic shrine, with a history of around 1,400 years, is known for the fact that the chief priest acts as the master brewer and brews sake to be served at religious ceremonies. Using local koshihikari rice harvested around the end of September every year, sake is brewed in time for the annual festival while holding a ceremony, and brewing continues for about a month. The event where the sake made by the priest is served as sacred sake is affectionately known locally as the "Doburoku Festival," and in some years it is a large festival that attracts more than 1,000 people. As the annual festival ends, sake brewing season is in full swing, and many master brewers and brewers from sake breweries visit the shrine, making it a truly revered "shrine of the god of sake brewing" from all over the country.
Built on a small hill, this shrine has a solemn atmosphere that is typical of the Izumo region, and the shrine building is built in the "taisha-zukuri" style, which is unique to this region.
This is a shrine I would like to visit with a peaceful mind so that I can continue to enjoy delicious sake.

The sake brewery "Sakamochida Honten" uses all rice grown in Shimane Prefecture, including "Saka Nishiki," a brand of rice suitable for sake brewing, and handles 20 different brands of sake, including sake under the brand name "Yamasan Masamune."
Located along the Cotton Highway, this storehouse has a history of over 140 years, and five of its buildings have been designated as cultural properties.
Hirata was a town that prospered through water transportation, so there were many water sources and it was an area where water was never in short supply. When the cotton industry began to decline, the abundance and quality of this water led to the birth of many breweries, and even today, one sake shop and three soy sauce breweries remain on the Cotton Highway, and as mentioned above, a brewery has also been added. It is a cold area with snow in the winter, and rice grows well there, so it is an area well suited to sake brewing.
In addition to sake, they also offer plum wine, Izumo ginger wine, and persimmon wine using local agricultural products, and while they produce a wide variety of sake in small quantities, they have also started a new initiative in 2022.

This is "RITA Izumo Hirata Sake Mochida Brewery," which opened after renovating the tool storehouse opposite the Sake Mochida main store.
This sake-themed lodge is limited to one group per day and can be rented as a whole. You can enjoy a relaxing soak in the sake bath inside the storehouse, which is a registered tangible cultural property, and there is also a raised tatami mat area in the basement where you can quietly enjoy your drink, so you can enjoy your drink at your own pace.
If you choose the one-night stay with two meals option, you will be provided with sake pairings that go well with the food from a nearby restaurant, and for breakfast you will be served a home-cooked breakfast while listening to stories from the owner of Mochida Soy Sauce Shop.
The bedding and pajamas are carefully selected, there is a notebook from Agoya in the room, and the welcome sweets are ginger candy from Kirimaya Shougato Honpo. It seems like a comfortable space where you can spend a comfortable time. With the help of alcohol, it seems like you can get a good night's sleep.

Another way Hirata enjoys himself is spending time getting intoxicated with sake in this town watched over by the god of sake brewing.
Experiencing the charms of local sake is truly the best part of traveling and a luxurious way to spend your time.

Saka Shrine (Matsuo Shrine)

Sakamochida Main Store

RITA Izumo Hirata Sake Mochida Brewery

Historical architecture reflecting Hirata's prosperity, Izumo-style gardens, "Motoishibashi Residence" and "Hirata Honjin Memorial Hall"

The Honishibashi Residence is a historic building that remains along the Cotton Highway.
The Ishibashi family was a wealthy landowner who prospered from the Edo period to the early Showa period by dealing in cotton and other products. During the Meiji period, they opened a local school at their home and promoted education in Hirata.
The main house, built around 1750 in the middle of the Edo period, was in use until the Showa period. The building was also visited by the feudal lord of Matsue, and the front of the house has a two-story tsushi. This is one of the characteristics of townhouses from the time when they couldn't have a second floor so as not to look down on the samurai.
The interior also has many architectural highlights, such as the nageshi and nail covers that use textured "faceted wood" (building materials made with the bark left intact).
The garden is made of a lot of stone, which may be a reference to the family name Ishibashi. The large stones used give it a rough and powerful look, while the dry landscape garden, with its reddish sand, gives it a flowing look.
The Honishibashi Residence was once in danger of being demolished, but as a symbol of the Cotton Highway, local people took action to preserve it, and it has been preserved as a facility where you can feel the atmosphere of the time when Hirata was prosperous. The residence is in good condition overall, and the building, garden, and teahouse in the back are all worth visiting.
Registration is at the Cotton Street Community Center, and you can tour the area with a guide.

The Hirata Honjin Memorial Hall is located on the hill of Atagoyama, about a five-minute drive from the Honishibashi Residence.
This building is a relocated and restored former home of the Motokisa family, who were wealthy merchants who dealt in Hirata cotton and other products and served as a place of lodging and rest for successive lords of the Matsue domain.
There is an exhibition room on the second floor displaying folk art and a set of decorations at the entrance, and the facility plays a major role in passing on the history and culture of the Hirata area to future generations.
It was built in 1989 as a facility to display historical materials and artworks of the region, and also to relocate the Motokisa family home, which was the main inn for the Matsue domain, to this site. You can feel the high aesthetic sense of the Motokisa family and traces of a glorious era, and it is a facility where you can learn about the history and culture that you will want to know when traveling to Hirata.
Many Japanese artists, including the late Edo period Japanese painter Ryuto Asai, stayed at the Motokisa residence, and cultural exchange took place. Paintings and hanging scrolls remain as evidence of this.
However, the highlight of this place is the garden, which was moved from the Motokiza family home and was created by an apprentice of the Matsue Domain's gardener. The Izumo-style garden, with its well-balanced arrangement of black pines and lanterns and its dynamic layout of large and small stepping stones, is definitely worth a visit. You can enjoy matcha green tea and sweets in front of the beautiful garden, which changes with the seasons, and spend a wonderful time at a tranquil place.

The history, traditions, and culture of Hirata that I experienced through my travels.
It was a stroll through the area, feeling the vestiges of the era from when it was a major cotton trading center to the present day.
Thanks to the efforts of local people, a new wind is slowly being blown into this town that has been so well preserved, and it is gradually transforming into an attractive town that maintains a good balance between old and new... Now is the time to return to the good things about Japan and get excited about new things, making this a fulfilling trip.

Honishibashi Residence

Hirata Honjin Memorial Museum