Constructed in 1893, Sankyo-soko Rice Storehouse is comprised of 12 storehouses. This facility was only used for storing rice, and 9 of the storehouses were still in use originally intended untill 2022. The rest have been renovated into the Shonai Rice Museum (temporarily closed) and Sakata Yume no Kura (souvenir shop). The museum presents information about Shonai rice including the history of rice cultivation, and shows farm tools and daily necessities used long ago. It also displays dioramas showing a traditional farmhouse in the old days and how rice was carried in and out of the storehouses.
Sakata Yume no Kura is primarily a souvenir shop, and visitors will find some great souvenirs here. The building comprises 2 of the 3 renovated storehouses and includes a traditional handicraft museum, a snack bar, and the Japanese restaurant, Hokotei. A line of zelkova trees not only provides shade from the sun, but protects all 12 buildings from the wind. People in Sakata have admired and regarded Sankyo-soko Rice Storehouse and the zelkova trees as a symbol of prosperity, and thus a symbol of the city.
