Dr. Sakaguchi memorial museum、坂口記念館（新潟県）

The museum is in central Japan (Niigata pref. Joetsu City). It was a parents' home of Dr. Sakaguchi (1897-1994) who made important research achievements in fermentation science. He was also a poet.

He lived in the residence during WW2 to avoid air raids, and interacted with intellectuals and master sake (alcohol) brewers; his family run a sake brewery. I'm jealous of him!

発酵学に貢献された坂口博士（1897-1994）の屋敷を資料館にしています（新潟県上越市頸城区）。坂口博士は学者であるだけでなく、歌人としても活動し、戦時中に疎開していたこの屋敷で地元の頸城（くびき）杜氏や文化人と交流していました。

杜氏の酒造りと博士の粋人としての活動がわかります。庶民の憧れの暮らしですね。

The staff made bamboo lanterns at the entrance hall above when I visited. The showcase in behind has sake bottles. It is rare to be able to drink alcohol in museum except for brewery company’s ones.

ホールでは職員さんがイベント用の竹灯籠を製作中。後ろには、お酒が。酒造会社の資料館以外でお酒を呑めるところは珍しいです。

Brewery equipment such as a big presser are displayed in the exhibition room at the 1^st floor. Sakaguchi family is a wealthy farmer and also a brewery; brewery, which is initiated by large rice-farmer, is not rare in Japan.

His achievements are shown in the 2^nd floor, however, photography is prohibited.

The panels about fermented foods on the left are interesting.

１階の展示室には大型の絞り器など酒造りの道具が並びます。富農であった坂口家では酒造も手がけました。２階では博士の業績が展示されていますが、そちらは撮影禁止。

発酵食品を紹介したパネルが興味深いです。

Joetsu is a rice production area in a large plain. Dishes including sake lees (by-product of brewery process) are as famous as miso taste dishes; both are local favorites. Sake lees provide rich flavor; many tastes from various materials made by microorganisms, harmonize well. Plus, those are good for health!

上越は米どころ。酒も有名ですが、酒粕を使った料理が味噌を使った料理とともに郷土料理になっています。発酵食品は微生物が作る複雑な味のハーモニー。美味しいし、体に良いし、言うことなしですね。

Sake barrels and bottles are displayed at the inner most of the room. Dr. Sakaguchi published a book when he was over eighty. Its name is “愛酒楽酔” (“愛酒” is “loving sake” and “楽酔” is “enjoying getting drunk”). He was a sake lover.

展示室の一番奥には、地酒の瓶と樽。博士は80歳を過ぎた頃に『愛酒楽酔』を出版しました。愛飲家です。

The organization chart of sake craftsman group is shown above. The head (touji) controls them. There were 97 touji and their groups in Niigata pref. in 1998, who worked various breweries in central Japan. Around half of touji in Niigata pref. were from Kubiki district wherein the museum is.

酒造を担う蔵人の組織。杜氏を頭に役割分担されています。越後杜氏は中部や関東で酒造りをリードしていますが（右上）、資料館がある頸城の出身者がその45％を占めます（右下）。

Equipment for sake brewing were mainly made from wood.

蔵人たちが使った道具です。ほぼ木製。

I proceeded to the annex wherein intellectuals had gathered.

文人たちが集った別棟へ。

Dr. Sakaguchi’s poem is written on the partition in front of the irori fireplace. Snow camellias are planted in the garden behind the building, which the doctor liked.

博士の歌が衝立になっています。その奥は囲炉裏。外には博士が好んだ雪椿の庭が広がります。

You can also drink here in a particular days.

お酒も置かれています。

Visited in July, 2025

Official website: https://www.city.joetsu.niigata.jp/soshiki/kubiki-ku/kubiki-hajime.html　(in Japanese. Automatic translation is attached), accessed in July, 2026

Previous post (museum in the same city): Joetsu City History Museum、上越市立歴史博物館

Next post (museum in the same prefecture): Salt road museum、塩の道資料館(Coming soon)

Comments

江戸・明治の性愛の楽しみ

性愛については、赤裸々に書き残す人は少なく、隠語で書かれていることが多いといいます。そりゃそうですよね。でも、いくつかの本には、江戸・明治の人々が性愛をどのように楽しんでいたかが書かれています。私が読んだのはほんの数冊ですが、その中から紹介します。ここでは、ビジネスとしての性愛や同性愛ではなく、日常の男女間の性愛を対象にします。人間に欠かせない楽しみですもんね。ところで、今回は、英文を作れませんでした。私の英語力ではとても対応できない内容なので、英文作成に協力していただけるようでしたら、ぜひ、お声かけ下さい。（ This article “Fun of the eros （性愛） ” is written only in Japanese , because it is too difficult for me to write in English due to lack of vocabulary about eros. If you kindly help me, please let me know. ）古代に書かれた出雲国の風土記には、忌部の温泉に老若男女が集まって市を作り「燕楽（ウタゲ）」をしたことが書かれています。また、常陸国の風土記には、筑波山でカガイがあり、春と秋に、飲食物を携えて山に登り、自由に情交を結んだことが書かれています（「宴と日本人」、伊藤幹治、 1984 ）。男女が楽しむのは、自然の成り行きですね。江戸･明治の性愛の形「売笑三千年史」（中山太郎 _1956 ）から、どんな形で性愛を楽しんでいたかを紹介します。この本は、神話の時代から明治時代までの売笑の歴史を書いた一級品の本だと思います。「売笑」は、「報酬を得るために多数の異性に対し、継続的に許す」ということだそうです。売笑の説明に入る前に、一般の人々の性愛活動について書かれています（第一章、第二節「婚姻の種々相と売笑の発生的関係」）。「江戸・明治の性愛の形」（本項）は、主に、そこから紹介します。【共同婚（乱婚）という習俗】女性は特定の男性に独占されていませんでした。男性も、どの女性とでも OK でした。天下の五奇祭のうち、洛北大原社の雑魚寝、近江筑摩社の鍋被り祭り、越中鵜坂社の尻たたき祭り...

The Great Yoshiwara (published in 2018)　吉原はスゴイ

吉原はスゴイ‐江戸文化を育んだ魅惑の遊郭（堀口茉純、 2018 ）人の楽しみの発見度： Excellent ★★★ This book is written about an authorized red-light district Yoshiwara which was in Edo (old name of Tokyo). There are many pictures in this book and you can understand all about Yoshiwara by this small book. The author is a pretty actress who is devoted to Japanese history especially Edo city (https://hoollii.com/). She tries to depict the contribution of Yoshiwara to foster Edo culture. Yoshiwara by Kunisada, 新よし原尾州楼かり / 国貞 http://www.ndl.go.jp/landmarks/details/detail274.html?sights=shinyoshiwara;tokyo=taito 、国会図書館この本は、ほぼすべてのページに浮世絵などの挿絵がある。　前書きで、著者は遊女たちが過酷な労働環境で性的サービスを提供したというブラックな事実を踏まえつつも、江戸文化の形成に貢献したポジティブな側面を伝えたい、と記している。　著者の堀口さんは、執筆時 35 歳の和服が似合う美しい方、 2008 年、江戸文化歴史検定 1 級に史上最年少の 25 歳で合格し「お江戸ル」と称している（ https://hoollii.com/ ）。遊郭・吉原の全てをコンパクトに纏めた良い本だ。 1. What is Yoshiwara? Yoshiwara was north of Edo city and surrounded by rice fields. The area was ...

Life in Edo, old Tokyo (published in 1959) 江戸生活事典

Very good : ★★★ (this is a long and interesting page) Various entertainments at Edo or old Tokyo in the Edo period are written in this book. I found a lot of fun here. I focus on the fun of common people, so I put aside the fun of Daimyo loads , samurais and rich merchants in this book. In terms of people’s fun, Edo was the paradise definitely. There were a lot of funs in day time and night time. Edo attracted people especially from the country side. I started from my favorite chapter. 　三田村鳶魚（えんぎょ）の著作を事典にしたもの。江戸の生活の様々な楽しみが書かれていて、発見が多い。ここでは庶民の楽しみにフォーカスし、大名、武士、大店の主の楽しみは拾わなかった。　人の楽しみの面からみると、まさに、江戸はパラダイス。昼も夜も出会いも、いろいろなものがあって、人を地方からも引き付ける。気に入った章別にピックアップしていく。 Edo or old Tokyo was very busy city, 熈代勝覧＠三越前 Chapter 7: Daily lives、風俗概要 (1) Seasonal recreation、遊楽 Seasonal recreations are written at first. On the New Year’s Day, people went out to see the sunrise. Also winter is a good season to see Mt.Fuji . ...

Travel of Isabella L. Bird in 1878, part 1　イザベラバードが見た明治初期の日本（1）

Arrival and visiting Asakusa 日本着、そして浅草訪問 Isabella arrived at Yokohama, near Tokyo, in May of 1878. She travelled northern Japan including Hokkaido and western Japan including Ise mainly by rickshaw , then she left Japan in December. This diary was written as letters to her younger sister. She described in detail, so we can understand what happened clearly. She was 46 when she came to Japan, and she hired Japanese lad as an interpreter. I admire her coura ge because she was the first lady foreigner to visit inland. This book is stored up in many libraries and Manga version was issued. She observed various things such as behaviors of Japanese people, plants and stratums meticulously and she elaborated on scenic beauty. I leave those matters to other authors, I would like to focus on the fun of old Japanese which she saw in Japan. The photo of Isabella in 1896 from the exhibition “Voyage of Unbeaten Tracks in Japan” 、1 896 年の...

Kaidou (Highway) and Shukuba (Post town) 街道と宿場

“Kaidou” is translated as a highway or a walking route. There were no cars in the Edo period , and there were almost no cars in the Meiji period too, so pedestrians and horses moved on the highway mainly. “Kai” is a city or town, and “dou” is a road, so “kai-dou” means not only a highway but also towns where people touched and treated travelers from other area. Unno post town on the kaidou, 北国街道・海野宿 Ohuchi post village, 会津西街道・大内宿　Kaidous were constructed from the 7 th century. Kaidous were systems which supported transportation and logistics, and they were rest area for travelers. From the 17 th century, Tokugawa shogunate developed the network of the kaidous very well, so people could travel across Japan easily. In the Japanese textbook for high school students, kaidous were explained as follows. - Tokugawa shogunate developed the kaidou system. They managed the five major kaidous directly; their starting points were Edo(Tokyo). There...

Fun of Good Old Japanese - 江戸・明治に学ぶ　楽しむ生き方

Search This Blog