Who will enjoy this brewery
- People who want to look for sake born in Aomori at restaurants and liquor stores during their trip
- People who want to start with sake made only from rice, rice koji and water, with no brewer’s alcohol added
- People who are interested in sake rice (rice suited to making sake) varieties developed in Aomori Prefecture
- People who can enjoy drinking and searching for sake as part of their trip, rather than visiting the brewery (Nishida Shuzoten has not published that it accepts brewery tours)
About Nishida Shuzoten
Nishida Shuzoten (西田酒造店) is a brewery in Aburakawa (油川), Aomori (青森市), Aomori Prefecture. It was founded in 1878.
It has two brands: “Kikuizumi (喜久泉)”, which it has made since its founding, and “Denshu (田酒)”, born in 1974. The company name and the brand names are different, so in stores, please look for the names “Denshu” or “Kikuizumi”.
Brewery tours are not published as available (checked on September 30, 2026).
Aburakawa, a port town of Sotogahama
Aburakawa was once called “Ohama (大浜)”, and from the Kamakura period to the Sengoku (Warring States) period it was the most prosperous port of “Sotogahama (外ヶ浜)”, the coast along the eastern side of the Tsugaru Peninsula. Nishida Shuzoten began making sake here in Aburakawa in the Meiji era.
The name Kikuizumi carries the wish that joy may continue for a long, long time. Kikuizumi products include a “daiginjo”, with more than half of the outer part of the rice polished away and a small amount of brewer’s alcohol added, and a “ginjo”, with 40% or more of the outer part of the rice polished away and a small amount of brewer’s alcohol added.
Denshu, “sake of the rice field”
Denshu is written with the characters for “rice field” and “sake” (田の酒), and read “denshu”. The “field” (田) is the rice field where the rice for sake grows. Sake bearing the Denshu name uses none of brewer’s alcohol or sugars for brewing, the ingredients that do not come from the rice field.
The brewery describes its feelings when it created Denshu as follows (from Nishida Shuzoten’s official website).
“To return to the origins of sake, and make a genuine sake with dignity.”
「日本酒の原点に帰り、風格ある本物の酒を造りたい」
In 1970, the brewery began brewing “junmai-shu”, sake made only from rice, rice koji and water, by traditional handwork. It took three years before it became a product, and Denshu went on sale on October 1, 1974.
The brewery has kept refining its methods since then. In 2003, it stopped the step of filtering with activated charcoal. In 2014, it built its own rice polishing plant, and in 2015 it renewed the room for the shubo (yeast starter: yeast grown in large quantities to start fermentation), the storehouse for the moromi (fermenting mash: sake still fermenting, before pressing) and the pressing room.
Bringing Aomori’s sake rice back to the fields
Nishida Shuzoten uses sake rice varieties developed in Aomori Prefecture.
Kojo Nishiki (古城錦) was Aomori Prefecture’s first shuzo kotekimai (the formal name for sake rice), developed in 1968 by the prefecture’s agricultural experiment station. However, it was hardly used for sake making, and it was a variety recommended by the prefecture for only 12 years, until 1980. The brewery tracked down its seed rice, asked particular farmers to grow it, and brought the rice back to the fields. It began brewing with it from the 1991 brewing season, and sells it for the local market as “Denshu Kojo no Nishiki (田酒 古城乃錦)”.
Hanaomoi (華想い) is also a sake rice from Aomori Prefecture, a variety the prefecture recommends growing. “Junmai Daiginjo Hyakuyonju (百四拾) Denshu” is a “junmai daiginjo”, made only from rice, rice koji and water, with more than half of the outer part of the rice polished away. Hanaomoi is used for all of its rice, both the rice made into koji and the rice added to the moromi. The name “Hyakuyonju” (140) comes from “Aokei Sake No. 140 (青系酒140号)”, the name the rice had at the experiment station before it was named Hanaomoi.
There are also products using “Hanafubuki (華吹雪)”, another sake rice from Aomori Prefecture. Denshu has many products, and both the rice and the rice polishing ratio (seimai buai: the share of the rice that remains after polishing) differ from product to product. Please check the label for the type. Many of Nishida Shuzoten’s products are shipped in limited quantities in set months.
Nishida Shuzoten’s “Denshu” received a gold award at the Zenkoku Shinshu Kanpyokai (National New Sake Competition) for the Reiwa 7 brewing year (organized by the National Research Institute of Brewing and the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association; announced on May 20, 2026).
Visiting the brewery
Nishida Shuzoten has not published that it accepts brewery tours (checked on September 30, 2026). It is closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
Information on sake breweries in Aomori Prefecture is gathered in the list of breweries of the Aomori Sake Brewers Association. Each brewery’s page has a field showing whether it accepts brewery tours. Please check the tour conditions with each brewery.
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Nishida Shuzoten’s sake
Nishida Shuzoten does not publish a list of stockists or authorized retailers (tokuyakuten) (checked on September 30, 2026). No official online store of the brewery can be found either.
On the internet, there are many pages that list stores selling Denshu. However, these are not lists published by the brewery, so this page does not name any stores.
Before you buy
- Denshu and Kikuizumi each include several products, and the ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product. Please check the label for the type.
- Whether a store carries the sake, and its stock, differ from store to store. Limited and seasonal products may not arrive at a store, so please check with the store before visiting.
- If the label shows a storage temperature, please follow it.
- If you are taking sake home abroad: Bottles over 100 ml cannot go in your carry-on bag before security screening. Put them in your checked baggage, or buy them at a duty-free shop after security screening. Please check in advance what applies if you have a connecting flight, and the import limits of the country you are arriving in. → Travel tips
Brewery facts
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Brewery | 株式会社西田酒造店 (Nishida Shuzoten Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1878 (the 11th year of the Meiji era) |
| Representative | 西田司 |
| Address | 〒038-0059 青森県青森市油川大浜46 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 017-788-0007 (fax 017-788-2553) |
| Main brands | Denshu (田酒) / Kikuizumi (喜久泉) |
| Official website | http://www.densyu.co.jp/ |
| Brewery tours | Not published |
| Closed | Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays |
| Sales at the brewery | Not published |
| List of stockists | Not published (checked on September 30, 2026) |
| English support | Not published |