Who will enjoy this brewery
- People traveling to the hot spring towns of northern Kumamoto Prefecture (Yamaga and Hirayama) who want to drop in at a sake brewery’s gallery (you cannot tour inside the brewery)
- People who are interested in sake made from local rice and from old rice varieties
- People looking for a sake that can only be bought within Kumamoto Prefecture
- People who want to make a half-day detour by car from Fukuoka or Kumamoto
About Hananoka Shuzo
Hananoka Shuzo (花の香酒造) is a sake brewery in Nagomi (和水町), Tamana District, Kumamoto Prefecture. It was founded in 1902. Its main brands are two: “Ubusuna (産土)” and “Hananoka (花の香)”.
You cannot tour inside the brewery. Instead, you are free to use “Hanakairou (花回廊)”, a gallery attached to the brewery, where you can also buy some of its products (checked on September 30, 2026).
“Ubusuna” is a word handed down in Japan since ancient times, meaning the land where one was born and the gods of that land. Hananoka Shuzo holds up this word as the philosophy of its sake making, and gave its brand the same name. The current head of the family is the sixth generation, Kanda Kiyotaka (神田清隆).
The brewery’s name comes from the scent of plum blossoms that drifted around the brewery at the time of its founding. The company’s name at its founding was “Kanda Shuzo (神田酒造)”, and it changed to its current name in 1992.
Volcanic land, and water from a well
Nagomi is a long, north-south town in the northwestern part of Kumamoto Prefecture. Rice fields spread across a basin surrounded by hills, and three rivers, including the 和仁川, flow into the Kikuchi River (菊池川). The brewery stands beside this 和仁川.
The town is about 40 kilometers from Mt. Aso (阿蘇山). About 90,000 years ago, in a great eruption of Mt. Aso known as “Aso-4” (阿蘇4), pyroclastic flows (a phenomenon in which hot volcanic ash and rock flow down) reached this area. The bedrock formed when those deposits hardened can still be seen on the bed of the 和仁川, which flows beside the brewery.
The brewery’s brewing water is water from a well dug through this bedrock. It was originally a shrine’s well. The founders, father and son 神田角次 and 茂作, took over rice fields that the shrine owned, and began making sake with the water that springs there and the rice from those fields. The water feels very slightly thick, and the kurabito (brewery workers) still hold a Shinto ritual in which they put their hands together in prayer to the water god of the well.
Made only from local rice
The Kikuchi River basin is a land where rice has been grown for 2,000 years. In 2017, the history of rice growing in this basin was recognized as a “Japan Heritage” by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. In the late Edo period, rice from this area was shipped to Osaka as “Higo-mai (肥後米)” and was highly valued at the rice market.
Hananoka Shuzo sources all of the rice it uses for sake making from rice grown in Nagomi, in the Kikuchi River basin. It also uses the sake rice (rice suited to making sake) “Yamada Nishiki (山田錦)”, but this too is grown locally. The rice used for “Ubusuna” is grown without pesticides or fertilizers. The brewery also uses old farming methods, such as planting the seedlings by hand one at a time and plowing the fields with horses.
Above all, it puts effort into “Homase (穂増)”, a Kumamoto variety from the Edo period. Homase had disappeared at the start of the Meiji era, but in 2017, 40 grains of seed rice were found at a farm. Since 2020, local farmers and the brewery’s agriculture department have grown it without pesticides or fertilizers. “Kabashiko (香子)”, another old Kumamoto variety, is also a variety the brewery revived over three years.
Ubusuna and Hananoka
Ubusuna is a series named directly after the brewery’s philosophy. Its products are divided by rice variety, such as Homase, Kabashiko and Yamada Nishiki. All of the rice comes from Nagomi. Some products are brewed with “kimoto”, the traditional way of making the shubo (yeast starter: the yeast grown to start fermentation), or in wooden vats. For yeast, the brewery mainly uses “No. 9 yeast” (9号酵母), which was born in Kumamoto. The ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type.
Hananoka is a series that links the four seasons of Kumamoto to the scents of plum, cherry and chrysanthemum blossoms, and it is sold only within Kumamoto Prefecture.
- Hananoka Ouka (桜花) — A “junmai daiginjo”: made only from rice, rice koji and water, with more than half of the outer part of the rice polished away. It uses Yamada Nishiki and is brewed by hand
- Hananoka Kikka (菊花) — A “junmai ginjo”: made only from rice, rice koji and water, with 40% or more of the outer part of the rice polished away, and fermented slowly at a low temperature
Visiting the brewery
Tours inside the brewery are not accepted (checked on September 30, 2026). What travelers can visit is “Hanakairou”, the gallery attached to the brewery.
Hanakairou is a facility opened in 2019 after renovating the main house and sake brewery buildings, which have stood since the Meiji era and were damaged in the Kumamoto earthquakes. It reopened with a new interior on May 30, 2026.
- An exhibition of photographs by the photographer Herbie Yamaguchi (ハービー・山口), showing the people of Nagomi and sake making
- A garden with an old plum tree more than 180 years old, from which the brewery takes its name
- In the “Koji no Ma” (麹の間, koji room), you can see inside the koji-muro (the room for making rice koji), which you normally cannot enter
- You can buy some products (quantities are limited)
| Hanakairou (checked on September 30, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Opening hours | 10:00–16:00 |
| Closed | Not published |
| Rice tasting experience | An experience of tasting cooked Homase and Kabashiko rice. One group per day (up to 4 people), 2,000 yen; booking required through the booking page |
| English support | Not published |
In the Reiwa 8 (2026) Kumamoto earthquake, there was no major damage to the brewery or its equipment (as of July 30, 2026).
Brewery festival
In spring, the brewery holds a brewery festival, “産土神宴” (Ubusuna Shin’en). It was scheduled for April 5 and 6 in 2025, and April 11 and 12 in 2026. There are sales of limited sake and stalls from restaurants in Kumamoto and Fukuoka, and in 2026 bus tours were also arranged from Hakata Station and Kumamoto. Please check official announcements for the next dates.
Getting there
Address: 〒861-0906 熊本県玉名郡和水町西吉地2226-2
- Shinkansen (high-speed rail): About 15 minutes by car from Shin-Omuta Station on the Kyushu Shinkansen, or about 30 minutes by car from Shin-Tamana Station
- By car: About 5 minutes from the Nankan Interchange, or about 15 minutes from the Kikusui Interchange. About 1 hour from both Kumamoto Airport and Fukuoka Airport
- From nearby hot spring towns: About 10 minutes by car from Hirayama Onsen, or about 20 minutes from Yamaga Onsen
Travel times are estimates (checked in September 2026). Please check train times with JR Kyushu. If you go by car, the driver should not drink sake.
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Hananoka Shuzo’s sake
The brewery does not sell by mail order. The only products you can buy at the brewery are some of those sold at Hanakairou.
“Ubusuna” and “Hananoka” are sold at different stores.
- Ubusuna is sold at authorized stockists across Japan
- Hananoka is sold at authorized retailers within Kumamoto Prefecture: 18 stores, including Tsuruya Department Store (鶴屋百貨店, 熊本市中央区手取本町6-1) (according to a list as of December 2021)
Authorized stockists of Ubusuna
The brewery publishes its list of authorized stockists on its official website (list as of June 2025; checked on September 30, 2026). From the list, we have chosen stores that are easy to drop in at during a trip.
| Area | Store | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Kumamoto city | いのもと酒店 | 熊本県熊本市東区帯山4-56-15 Open in Google Maps |
| Kumamoto city | 地酒処 たちばな酒店 | 熊本県熊本市南区田井島3-9-7 Open in Google Maps |
| Hakata Station | 住吉酒販 博多駅店 | 福岡県福岡市博多区博多駅中央街1-1 JR博多駅 博多デイトス1階 Open in Google Maps |
| Fukuoka city | 住吉酒販 博多本店 | 福岡県福岡市博多区住吉3-8-27 Open in Google Maps |
| Tokyo Station | はせがわ酒店 グランスタ東京店 | 東京都千代田区丸の内1-9-1 JR東京駅構内 地下1階 Open in Google Maps |
| Oshiage (Tokyo Skytree) | はせがわ酒店 東京スカイツリー店 | 東京都墨田区押上1-1-2 東京ソラマチ1階 Open in Google Maps |
| Ginza | IMADEYA GINZA | 東京都中央区銀座6-10-1 GINZA SIX 地下2階 Open in Google Maps |
| Azabudai | インタートワイン ケーエム 山仁 | 東京都港区麻布台1-2-4 麻布台ヒルズ マーケット Open in Google Maps |
| Osaka | 酒楽 掬正 | 大阪府大阪狭山市金剛1-7-8 Open in Google Maps |
Please check the list for other stores (in Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Tokai, Chubu and Kyushu). The list also includes each store’s phone number. It does not include any stores in Kyoto Prefecture or stores inside airports.
Before you buy
- Whether a store carries the sake, and its stock, differ from store to store. Please ask branch stores about their stock directly. Limited and seasonal products may not arrive at a store.
- Because of the Reiwa 8 Kumamoto earthquake, delivery companies’ pickups and deliveries were disrupted, and the brewery is shipping in turn as the delivery companies recover (as of July 30, 2026). Deliveries to stores may be delayed.
- 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 | 花の香酒造株式会社 (Hananoka Shuzo Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1902 (the 35th year of the Meiji era) |
| Representative | Representative Director Kanda Kiyotaka (神田清隆) |
| Address | 〒861-0906 熊本県玉名郡和水町西吉地2226-2 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0968-34-2055 |
| Main brands | Ubusuna (産土) / Hananoka (花の香) |
| Rice used | Rice grown in Nagomi, in the Kikuchi River basin (Yamada Nishiki, Homase, Kabashiko and others) |
| Brewing water | The brewery’s well water |
| Official website | https://www.hananoka.co.jp/ |
| Brewery tours | Not available (the attached gallery “Hanakairou” can be used) |
| Sales at the brewery | Hanakairou (some products, limited quantities). No mail order |
| List of stockists | Published (Ubusuna: nationwide / Hananoka: within Kumamoto Prefecture) |
| English support | Not published |