Who will enjoy this brewery
- People who are traveling in Ehime and looking for sake to drink with meals
- People who want to compare sake by variety of sake rice (rice suited to making sake)
- People who want to walk around Saijo, a town where water springs up from underground, and take home the local sake (Ishizuchi Shuzo does not accept brewery tours)
About Ishizuchi Shuzo
Ishizuchi Shuzo (石鎚酒造) is a brewery in Himi (氷見), Saijo (西条市), Ehime Prefecture. It was founded in 1920 (the 9th year of the Taisho era), and its brand is “Ishizuchi (石鎚)”.
The brewery does not offer brewery tours or tastings (checked on September 30, 2026).
The brewery’s goal is “食中に活きる酒造り” (sake making that comes alive during a meal), in other words, sake that truly comes alive when drunk with food. It mainly makes junmai sake, made only from rice, rice koji and water. Ishizuchi Shuzo’s “Ishizuchi” 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).
At the foot of Mt. Ishizuchi, a town where water springs up
Saijo is a town at the foot of Mt. Ishizuchi (石鎚山), the highest mountain in western Japan. Around the brewery spreads the rice-growing plain of Saijo and 周桑.
In Saijo, when you drive a pipe into the ground, groundwater springs out by itself. These artesian wells (wells from which groundwater springs out naturally) are called “うちぬき”, and there are said to be about 3,000 of them in the city. In 1985, “うちぬき” was selected for the “名水百選” by the Environment Agency (today’s Ministry of the Environment). The city’s tourism association runs guided tours by reservation in which you walk to the うちぬき in the city center with a guide (reserve by phone by noon two days before the day of use; checked on September 30, 2026).
Ishizuchi Shuzo uses water that springs from a well inside the brewery for brewing. It is water from the Mt. Ishizuchi mountains, and it is very soft “super-soft water”.
Sake brewed by a family, sake that gets better from the third glass
At Ishizuchi Shuzo, the brewery owner’s family is at the center of the sake making. In 1999, the brewery ended its “toji system”, in which a toji (master brewer: the person in charge of sake making) is employed, and moved to its current system in which all of its employees make the sake. The brewery’s motto is “Brewed for the customers who love Ishizuchi” (石鎚を愛して頂くお客様の為に造る). The brewery describes the taste it aims for like this.
Centered on junmai-shu and junmai ginjo-shu, we aim for sake that becomes delicious from the third glass.
純米酒、純米吟醸酒を中心に、3杯目から旨くなる酒を目指します。 ——From the Ishizuchi Shuzo official website
The brewery’s way of brewing, which values handwork, is what makes it stand out.
- Koji: Koji is steamed rice on which koji mold has been grown. Ishizuchi Shuzo makes all of its koji with the “タライ麹法” method, which uses tubs, and with “箱麹”, grown in small boxes
- Fermentation: The moromi (fermenting mash: the base of the sake while it is fermenting) is fermented at a low temperature of 5–12 degrees Celsius, for about 30 days on average
- Pressing: From the brewing of the 2001 brewing year (the year starting in July 2001), the brewery revived the method of putting the moromi into bags and pressing it in a “sakabune (酒槽)” (pressing tank). In 2017 it also introduced a machine that presses automatically, and the pressing is done inside a cold room
For the rice used to make koji, the brewery almost always uses sake rice, the rice suited to making sake. For Yamada Nishiki (山田錦), it uses rice from Hyogo Prefecture and Tokushima Prefecture, and the Yamada Nishiki grown in 阿波町, Tokushima Prefecture, is used for its junmai sake.
Choosing Ishizuchi by the name of the rice
Some Ishizuchi products have the name of the sake rice used in the product name. For example, among the junmai ginjo there are products named “Yamada Nishiki 50 (山田錦50)”, “備前雄町50” and “Aiyama 50 (愛山50)”. Junmai ginjo is sake 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 ingredients and the rice polishing ratio differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type and the name of the rice.
The brewery’s standard sake is “Junmai Ginjo Green Label (純米吟醸 緑ラベル)”. There are also seasonal products, such as “夏純米” in summer (released only from June to August) and “hiyaoroshi (ひやおろし)” in autumn (released only from September to November). Both are junmai sake, made only from rice, rice koji and water.
Visiting the brewery
Ishizuchi Shuzo does not accept brewery tours or tastings (checked on September 30, 2026).
Whether you can buy sake at the brewery, and on which days and at what times, please check by phone (0897-57-8000) before visiting.
| Ishizuchi Shuzo (checked on September 30, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Address | 〒793-0073 愛媛県西条市氷見丙402-3 Open in Google Maps |
| Brewery tours and tastings | Not offered |
| Sales at the brewery | Please check by phone |
| Phone | 0897-57-8000 |
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Ishizuchi Shuzo’s sake
If you want to buy at the brewery, please check by phone (0897-57-8000) before visiting whether sales are available and at what times.
Ishizuchi Shuzo does not publish a list of stockists (checked on September 30, 2026). No official online store for the brewery can be found either. If you want to know the stockists, please contact the brewery (phone 0897-57-8000, email sake@ishizuchi.co.jp).
Before you buy
- Ishizuchi has several products that differ in the sake rice used and in season. Please check the label for the type.
- Seasonal products are released in set months.
- 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 | 石鎚酒造株式会社 (Ishizuchi Shuzo Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1920 (the 9th year of the Taisho era) |
| Representative | President and Representative Director 越智浩 |
| Address | 〒793-0073 愛媛県西条市氷見丙402-3 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0897-57-8000 (fax 0897-57-8811) |
| Main brand | Ishizuchi (石鎚) |
| Brewing water | Well water from inside the brewery (Mt. Ishizuchi mountains, super-soft water) |
| Official website | https://www.ishizuchi.co.jp/ (can be switched to English and Chinese) |
| Brewery tours | Not possible (tastings are not possible either) |
| Sales at the brewery | Please check by phone (0897-57-8000) |
| List of stockists | Not published (checked on September 30, 2026) |
| English support | The official website has a language switch. English support at the brewery is not published |