​洞川温泉醸造所

醸造所

奈良県吉野郡天川村

2022.08

およそ1,300年前、役小角によって開かれたとされる霊峰・大峯山へと続く温泉郷・洞川温泉。

標高約820mに位置し、日本独自の山岳信仰・修験道の聖地である大峯山で修業を行う行者さん（山伏）の登山基地として古くから栄え、旅館・民宿や、和薬の元祖とされる大和の名薬・陀羅尼助丸を扱う商店などが軒を連ねている。それらは講と呼ばれる大勢の行者さんの団体が一度に館内・店内に上がることができるよう、各々が通りに対して大きく開け放つことのできる縁側を持った造りとなっており、この洞川温泉特有の造りがまちに賑わいや独特の風情を与えている。そしてそれはまちの人同士のコミュニケーションを容易にし、また、通りを歩く子どもたちをまち全体で見守る役割としても機能しているように思う。

当然の解ではあるが、同ブルワリーも通りに対して大きく開く計画とし、物理的にも思考的にもまちの一部になればという思いを込めた。内装には陀羅尼助丸をモチーフとした特注タイルや、ビールと同じく発酵することによって生成される柿渋を用いた和紙を採用し、また、改装前に喫茶店を営んでいたこの建物はいわゆる歴史のある建築物や古民家という訳ではないが、外観は必要以上に手を加えず、長い年月をかけて慣れ親しまれた風景をこれから先も引き継いでいってほしいと考えた。

オープン後に訪れた際、観光客だけではなく、周辺の旅館などで働く人同士の仕事後のコミュニケーションの場ともなっていると聞き、少しずつまちの一部となっているように感じた。

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Dorogawa Onsen is a hot spring village that leads to Mt. Omine, a sacred mountain believed to have been opened by Enno Ozunu about 1,300 years ago. Located at an elevation of approximately 820m, Omine has long flourished as a mountain climbing base for Gyoja (Yamabushi, mountain ascetics) of Shugendo, a sacred mountain worship tradition unique to Japan, and is lined with inns, guest houses, and stores selling Daranisukegan, a famous medicine from Yamato that is considered the origin of Japanese medicines. Each of them has a porch that can be opened wide to the street so that a large group of Gyoja called a "ko" can go inside at once; this structure, unique to Dorogawa Onsen, gives the town a lively and unique atmosphere. It also seems to function as a way for people in the town to communicate with each other and for the entire town to watch over the children walking along the street.
As a natural solution, the brewery is also planned to open wide to the street, with the hope that it will become part of the town, both physically and conceptually. For the interior, custom-made tiles with a Daranisukegan motif and Japanese paper made from persimmon tannin, which is produced by fermentation like beer, were used. The exterior of the building, which was used as a coffee shop before its renovation, is not a historical building or an old private house in Japan, but the exterior is not modified more than necessary and hoped that the familiar landscape would continue to be inherited in the future.
When visiting after the opening, I heard that it has become a place not only for tourists but also for after-work communication among workers at nearby inns, and I felt that it is gradually becoming part of the town.