Who will enjoy this brewery
- People who want to look for a new sake from Saga Prefecture at liquor stores and restaurants during their trip
- People who are interested in sake with sourness and umami that has not been heated after pressing
- People who can enjoy drinking and searching for sake as part of their trip, rather than visiting the brewery (Koueigiku Shuzo does not accept brewery tours)
About Koueigiku Shuzo
Koueigiku Shuzo (光栄菊酒造) is a sake brewery in Mikatsuki (三日月町), Ogi (小城市), Saga Prefecture. Its brand is “Koueigiku (光栄菊)”, the same name as the company.
This brewery is an old brewery that had once stopped making sake, and was taken over and restarted by a new management team. It obtained a license to produce sake (seishu) in August 2019, and in December of that year, its first sake since the restart was completed.
Brewery tours are not available (checked on September 30, 2026).
A sake brewery that remains on a post-town street
In the Edo period, the area where the brewery stands was a post station on the road from Yamato (大和町), Saga, to Ogi. Shops lined the highway, and old buildings are still scattered along the old road today.
Koueigiku Shuzo’s main house stands facing this old road. At the back of the grounds, the “Toorigura” (通り蔵) and “Hongura” (本蔵), where sake is brewed, form a pair in a U shape, lined with the place for washing rice, the place for steaming it, the former koji-muro (the room for making koji), and more. Fields spread to the east and south of the grounds, and a water-filled channel runs around the boundary of the grounds. From the old road, you can see a red brick chimney.
Six of these buildings were registered as national Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (historic buildings to be preserved and used) on February 26, 2021.
Ogi-machi (小城町) in Ogi is known as a town of yokan (a Japanese sweet made by setting red beans and sugar). Upstream on the Kiyomizu River, selected as one of the “100 Exquisite and Well-Conserved Waters” of Japan, are the 75-meter-high “Kiyomizu Falls (清水の滝)”. Restaurants serving carp dishes line the area near the falls.
Sake that values sourness and umami
Koueigiku Shuzo values the harmony of umami, sweetness and sourness. Above all, it aims for a taste in which umami and sourness are in balance, with an aftertaste that ends cleanly.
The brewery finishes its “namazake” (sake that has never been pasteurized, i.e. heated to kill microbes, after pressing) so that right after opening you can taste its fresh character with carbon dioxide gas, and after it has been open for a while, a fuller, rounder taste. For sake that is pasteurized too, after bottling and heating, the brewery quickly cools it in ice water.
The brewery has also started growing rice in its own rice fields.
“Koueigiku” has many products, each with an English or Japanese name. The rice and brewing methods differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type.
Visiting the brewery
Koueigiku Shuzo does not accept brewery tours (checked on September 30, 2026). Whether it sells sake at the brewery has not been published either.
It is closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Tour arrangements and closing days may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
The nearest station is Ogi Station on the JR Karatsu Line. Please check train times with JR Kyushu.
If you are looking for a sake brewery you can visit in Saga Prefecture, see the “蔵見学の実施” (brewery tours offered) field on each brewery’s page in the brewery introductions of the Saga Sake Brewers Association.
Where to buy Koueigiku Shuzo’s sake
Koueigiku Shuzo does not publish a list of stockists (checked on September 30, 2026). No official website or official online store can be found either. The brewery sells its sake through specialist jizake stores across Japan (liquor stores specializing in local sake).
The following stores are ones where we confirmed on the store’s website that they carry Koueigiku. We have not confirmed whether they are the brewery’s authorized retailers (tokuyakuten).
| Area | Store | Address | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chiba / Tokyo | IMADEYA | 千葉県千葉市中央区 (main store). There are also stores in Tokyo, including Ginza | Confirmed on the online store. Please check each store’s stock with the store |
| Nagoya | 知多繁 | 愛知県名古屋市昭和区池端町1-18 Open in Google Maps | Confirmed on the store’s website |
We could not find any store in Saga or Fukuoka Prefecture whose website confirmed that it carries the sake.
The brewery’s latest news is posted on its Instagram (@koueigiku).
Before you buy
- 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.
- Namazake changes in quality faster than pasteurized sake. Keep products marked “要冷蔵” (keep refrigerated) in the refrigerator.
- 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 | 光栄菊酒造株式会社 (Koueigiku Shuzo Co., Ltd.) |
| Sake production license | Obtained in August 2019 |
| Representative | 日下智 |
| Address | 〒845-0023 佐賀県小城市三日月町織島2602番地3 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0952-97-6710 |
| Main brand | Koueigiku (光栄菊) |
| Buildings | National Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (registered on February 26, 2021) |
| Official website | Cannot be confirmed (as of September 30, 2026). Instagram @koueigiku |
| Brewery tours | Not available |
| Sales at the brewery | Not published |
| Closed | Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays |
| List of stockists | Not published (checked on September 30, 2026) |
| English support | Not published |