There are two preservation districts of different character near the same station. Hizen-Hamashuku is a brewing town: large white-plastered, storehouse-built townhouses run along the street, and several of the sake houses are still brewing and selling rather than merely standing. In winter the smell of the mash reaches the street, which is the simplest way to tell which of these buildings are working and which are merely standing.

Hizen-Hamashuku was designated an Important Preservation District in July 2006, and Hamashōzumachi-Hamakanayamachi, next door, was designated in the same year. One is a district of artisans and fishing, the other a district of sake, and they sit on either side of the station — two designations, two entirely different sets of reasons, within a few minutes' walk of each other. Work is available in the breweries, and the local line puts Saga and Nagasaki within commuting distance, so the district is not dependent on visitors for its living.

A brewery building is large because the vessels inside it are large. The mash tubs, the kōji room and the storage all have to be under one roof, and the dimensions of the equipment are not negotiable, so what got built here is a townhouse with the proportions of a factory — domestic on the street, industrial behind. That is a specific kind of building, and it does not occur in towns where the trade was retail rather than production. Nothing about it was decided by taste. The size of these white walls is a fairly precise reproduction of the size of the tools inside them.