Who will enjoy this brewery
- People who want to look for sake from Mie Prefecture at restaurants and liquor stores during their trip (Kiyasho Shuzo does not offer brewery tours, tastings or retail sales)
- People who want to compare sake from the same brewery by variety of sake rice (rice suited to making sake)
- People who want to travel a little further from Osaka or Nagoya and walk around an old castle town
About Kiyasho Shuzo
Kiyasho Shuzo (木屋正酒造) is a sake brewery in Nabari (名張市), Mie Prefecture. It was founded in 1818. Its main brand is “Jikon (而今)”, and it also makes “Takasago (高砂)”, a brand it has had since around the time it was founded.
The brewery does not offer brewery tours, tastings or retail sales (checked on September 30, 2026). This is so that it can concentrate on making sake.
Jikon 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).
A town on the Hatsuse Kaido, and the Iga basin
Nabari is a town in the Iga (伊賀) region of Mie Prefecture. Kiyasho Shuzo was founded in 1818 on the Hatsuse Kaido (初瀬街道), the road from Nara and Kyoto to Ise Grand Shrine (伊勢神宮).
The brewery’s ancestors are said to have moved from Imabari (今治, in today’s Ehime Prefecture) to Nabari in the early Edo period, following the Todo family (藤堂家). They were originally timber merchants, and “Kiyasho” is their shop name. In Nabari, from 1636 until the Meiji Restoration, a branch of the Todo family kept its residence there and laid out the castle town.
The Iga basin is said to have once been the bottom of an ancient Lake Biwa. Through the town flows the Nabari River (名張川), where underground water (water that has flowed underground) from the Kii Mountains (紀伊山地) springs up. This soil and water grow the rice of Iga. The brewery believes that all of Iga’s nature is the source of its sake making.
The name “Jikon”
“Jikon (而今)” is a Zen word of Dogen (道元), who founded Soto Zen (曹洞宗). The brewery explains the word as follows.
“Not bound by the past, not bound by the future, simply living the present to the fullest”
「過去にも囚われず、未来にも囚われず、今をただ精一杯に生きる」 ——From the Kiyasho Shuzo official website, page “Kiyasho Shuzo”
The sixth generation studied sake making for two years under a toji (master brewer: the person in charge of sake making) of the group known as “Tajima toji (但馬杜氏)”. In 2005, he named the sake he then made as toji himself “Jikon”.
The brewery thinks of sake making as “looking after microorganisms”. Sake comes into being as the microorganisms koji mold and yeast grow, and what people can do is prepare the environment for them. That is the brewery’s way of thinking.
A different Jikon every month, by rice variety
Jikon is made from sake rice from all over Japan, centered on Yamada Nishiki (山田錦) from Iga. There are products for each variety, such as Aiyama (愛山), Sake Mirai (酒未来), Omachi (雄町), Senbon Nishiki (千本錦), Hattan Nishiki (八反錦) and Gohyakumangoku (五百万石), and the brewery ships a different type every month.
The products are divided by special designation, and are distinguished by names such as the rice variety and by whether they are “nama (生)” or “hiire (火入)”. “Hiire” means the sake was heat-treated before shipping. “Nama” means it is namazake (unpasteurized sake), which has not been heat-treated. Even with the same rice variety, the nama and hiire versions are shipped in different months.
Here are three different types from the brewery’s product list (checked on September 30, 2026; no prices are shown).
- Jikon Junmai Daiginjo Nabari Hiire (而今 純米大吟醸 名張 火入) — A “junmai daiginjo” made only from rice, rice koji and water, with more than half of the outer part of the rice polished away. Planned shipping: June
- Jikon Junmai Ginjo Yamada Nishiki Hiire (而今 純米吟醸 山田錦 火入) — A “junmai ginjo” made only from rice, rice koji and water, with at least 40% of the outer part of the rice polished away and fermented slowly at a low temperature. The sake rice is Yamada Nishiki, and planned shipping is April. The nama version made with the same Yamada Nishiki is shipped in February
- Jikon Tokubetsu Junmai Hiire (而今 特別純米 火入) — A “tokubetsu junmai-shu” made only from rice, rice koji and water, either with at least 40% of the outer part of the rice polished away or made with a special production method. Planned shipping: from April
Some of the junmai ginjo products have “きもと (kimoto)” in their names. These are “kimoto (生酛)” products, in which the shubo (yeast starter: the yeast grown to start fermentation) is made in the old way. The ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type and the name of the rice.
“Takasago”, the brand since the brewery’s early days
“Takasago” is the brand that has represented Kiyasho Shuzo since around the time it was founded. From 2005 the brewery put its energy into Jikon, but in 2018, when it reached 200 years since its founding, it made sake with kimoto for the first time as a brewery and revived Takasago with a new method.
Visiting the brewery
Kiyasho Shuzo does not offer brewery tours, tastings or retail sales (checked on September 30, 2026). Even if you go to the brewery, you cannot tour it or buy sake.
The brewery also has a place it calls “Za (座)”. It is a guesthouse made up of a sake room, a dining room, a kitchen and 宿坊 (rooms to stay in), but it is not open to the public.
If you want to walk around Nabari
The brewery building is in Honmachi, near Nabari Station. The town still has the former residence of the branch of the Todo family, “名張藤堂家邸”, which is open to the public.
- Opening hours: 9:00–16:30
- Closed: Mondays and Thursdays (the following day if that day is a public holiday), and the New Year holidays (December 29 to January 3)
- Admission: From October 1, 2026, 300 yen for adults and 150 yen for high school students; free for elementary and junior high school students
Opening hours and admission were checked on September 30, 2026. For details, please check the Nabari City information page.
Getting there
Address: 〒518-0726 三重県名張市本町314-1
- Train: About a 10-minute walk from Nabari Station on Kintetsu (近鉄). From Nabari Station it takes about 54 minutes by limited express to Osaka-Namba Station, and about 85 minutes by limited express to Kintetsu-Nagoya Station
Travel times are a guide as of September 2026. Please check train times on the Kintetsu Railway website.
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Kiyasho Shuzo’s sake
Kiyasho Shuzo does not publish a list of stockists or authorized retailers (tokuyakuten) (checked on September 30, 2026). There are no retail sales at the brewery and no official online store.
The brewery values its trust with the liquor stores that deliver its sake in the best condition. Jikon is sold through liquor stores, but which stores carry it is not published. Some stores on the internet state that they carry Jikon, but because this is not a list published by the brewery, this page does not list any stores.
Before you buy
- Jikon has many products, and the ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product. Please check the label for the type.
- Each product has a set month for shipping. Whether a store carries the sake, and its stock, differ from store to store, so please check with the store before visiting.
- 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 | 木屋正酒造株式会社 (Kiyasho Shuzo Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1818 (the 1st year of the Bunsei era) |
| Representative | 大西唯克 |
| Address | 〒518-0726 三重県名張市本町314-1 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0595-63-0061 |
| Main brands | Jikon (而今) / Takasago (高砂) |
| Official website | https://kiyashow.com/ |
| Brewery tours | Not possible |
| Brewery shop | None (no retail sales or tastings either) |
| List of stockists | Not published (checked on September 30, 2026) |
| English support | The official website has English pages. English support at the brewery is not published |