Who will enjoy this brewery
- People traveling in Kyushu who want to try sake made in Miyazaki Prefecture
- People who want to book a tour of a small sake brewery (advance booking by phone is required)
- People on a winter trip who want to taste new-season sake on the day of the brewery open day (held in February in 2023 and 2026)
- People who want to buy Sentoku sake at the brewery shop
About Sentoku Shuzo
Sentoku Shuzo (千徳酒造) is a sake brewery in Nobeoka (延岡市), Miyazaki Prefecture. Its brand is “Sentoku (千徳)”, the same name as the brewery. It was founded in 1903.
Sentoku Shuzo’s business is producing and selling seishu (sake), and it specializes in making sake. Even across the three prefectures of Miyazaki, Kagoshima and Okinawa together, there were four production sites that made seishu in the Reiwa 6 brewing year (July 2024 to June 2025).
Brewery tours are accepted if you book in advance. At the same address as the brewery is “Hanakagura-kan (はなかぐら館)”, a shop where you can buy sake.
A history in which three breweries became one
Sentoku Shuzo began as “Tsunetomi Shuzo Goshi Kaisha (恒富酒造合資会社)”, founded in 1903 in Tsunetomi Village (恒富村, now part of Nobeoka). At the time, it made soy sauce as well as sake. In 1927, this company was dissolved and “Nobeoka Shuzo Co., Ltd. (延岡酒造株式会社)” was newly established.
In December 1944, under wartime controls, three sake breweries including Nobeoka Shuzo merged, and “日向酒造株式会社” was formed on the current site. At this time, it stopped making soy sauce. In 1961, it changed its name to Sentoku Shuzo, and in 1988 it rebuilt its brewing storehouse. In 2005, it opened the brewery shop “Hanakagura-kan”.
Water from the Gokase River, and sake rice grown in Miyazaki Prefecture
The brewing water is underground water from the Gokase River (五ヶ瀬川). For rice, the brewery uses shuzo kotekimai (rice varieties suited to sake brewing), mainly grown under contract in Miyazaki Prefecture.
The rice used includes “Hanakagura (はなかぐら)”, a sake rice from Miyazaki Prefecture, and “Yamada Nishiki (山田錦)” grown in Takachiho (高千穂) in northern Miyazaki Prefecture.
The brewery is led by 門田賢士, the Representative Director and toji (the person responsible for sake making). He was born in Nobeoka in 1963, and after working at a liquor wholesaler, he joined Sentoku Shuzo at the age of 27. After a little over two years in sales, he moved to the sake making floor, and became toji in 2002. At the brewery, the temperature of the moromi (fermenting mash: the fermenting base of sake) and of the koji-muro (the room for making koji) is watched around the clock.
He writes this in the brewery’s company profile (from “Company profile” on Sentoku Shuzo’s official website).
There is no finish line in sake making. Without forgetting our original intentions, without forgetting our gratitude, we will keep making, honestly and earnestly, sake that drinkers call “delicious”.
酒造りにゴールはありません。初心を忘れず、感謝を忘れず、正直に真面目に飲み手に「旨い」と言われる酒を造り続けます。
Sentoku’s sake
“Sentoku” has many products. The ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type. Here are three.
- Junmai Daiginjo Yume no Naka made (夢の中まで) — A “junmai daiginjo”: made only from rice, rice koji and water, with more than half of the outer part of the rice polished away. The rice is Yamada Nishiki from Takachiho, and the 700 kilograms of rice for each batch are washed by hand
- Daiginjo Sentoku — A “daiginjo”, with more than half of the outer part of the rice polished away and a small amount of brewer’s alcohol added. It uses Yamada Nishiki, is pressed slowly in bags, and is bottled without adding water
- Sentoku Junmai-shu — A “junmai-shu”, made only from rice, rice koji and water. You can drink it chilled or warmed
Sentoku Shuzo’s “Sentoku” 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).
Visiting the brewery
Brewery tours
Sentoku Shuzo accepts brewery tours by booking (checked on September 30, 2026). Please apply in advance by phone (0982-32-2024). Please check the tour times and price when you book. You can see the brewing process itself from January to February.
Besides the phone number, an email address (info@sentoku.com) is also published for inquiries. English support is not published.
Brewery open day
Sentoku Shuzo holds a “kura-biraki” (brewery open day) in February (February 25 and 26 in 2023, and February 14 and 15 in 2026). In 2026, it opened at 10:00 in the morning, with free sake, the brewing storehouse opened for touring, and sales of local products by local companies. Please check the brewery’s official information for the next dates.
The shop “Hanakagura-kan”
Sentoku Shuzo’s shop, at the same address as the brewery.
| (checked on September 30, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Opening hours | 8:30–17:00 |
| Closed | Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays (may change depending on the season) |
| Phone | 0982-32-2024 |
Getting there
Address: 〒882-0841 宮崎県延岡市大瀬町2-1-8
If you go by car, please take care not to drink and drive.
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Sentoku Shuzo’s sake
Sentoku Shuzo does not publish a list of stockists or authorized retailers (tokuyakuten) (checked on September 30, 2026). No page for ordering online can be found on the brewery’s official website either.
Sentoku sake is sold at the brewery shop “Hanakagura-kan”. The business days and hours are as shown in the table above. It may be closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, so please call to check before visiting.
Before you buy
- “Sentoku” includes 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.
- 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 | 千徳酒造株式会社 (Sentoku Shuzo Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1903 (the 36th year of the Meiji era) |
| Representative | Representative Director 門田賢士 |
| Address | 〒882-0841 宮崎県延岡市大瀬町2-1-8 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0982-32-2024 (fax 0982-32-2169) |
| Main brand | Sentoku (千徳) |
| Brewing water | Underground water from the Gokase River |
| Official website | http://www.sentoku.com/ |
| Brewery tours | Available (booking required; apply by phone) |
| Sales at the brewery | Yes (the brewery shop “Hanakagura-kan”) |
| List of stockists | Not published (checked on September 30, 2026) |
| English support | Not published |