Who will enjoy this brewery
- People who want to walk around an old post town north of Lake Biwa on their way to Kyoto or Hokuriku (Tomita Shuzo does not accept brewery tours)
- People who want to compare sake by variety of sake rice (rice suited to making sake) or by how much the rice is polished
- People who are looking for sake to drink with meals rather than sake with a showy aroma
About Tomita Shuzo
Tomita Shuzo (冨田酒造) is a sake brewery in Kinomoto (木之本町), Nagahama (長浜市), Shiga Prefecture. The town is near the northern end of Lake Biwa (琵琶湖), and the brewery faces the old Hokkoku Road (北国街道). It was founded early in the Tenbun era (1532–1555), and its brand is “Shichihonyari (七本鎗)”. The brewery does not accept brewery tours (checked on September 30, 2026).
The current head of the family is the 15th generation, 冨田泰伸. He joined the brewery in 2002 and turned it into an “owner-toji” brewery, where the owner makes the sake himself (toji: master brewer, the person in charge of sake making).
A post town, and seven young warriors
Kinomoto lies where the Hokkoku Road, which links Hokuriku and Kyoto, and the 北国脇往還 road split, and it has prospered as the temple town of 浄信寺 (Kinomoto Jizoin, 木之本地蔵院) and as a post town. In the Edo period, the Tomita family did business near 浄信寺, diagonally across from the 本陣, the inn where daimyo (feudal lords) stayed.
In 1583, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉) and Shibata Katsuie (柴田勝家) fought at Shizugatake (賤ヶ岳), Hideyoshi made 浄信寺 his headquarters. The seven young warriors who distinguished themselves in this battle were called the “Seven Spears of Shizugatake” (賤ヶ岳の七本槍), and the brand is named after these seven. The characters “七本鎗” on the label are a seal engraving (characters carved for a seal) by the artist Kitaoji Rosanjin (北大路魯山人), who stayed with the Tomita family in the Taisho era.
The brewery’s main house was rebuilt after the great fire of 1744. As one of the oldest townhouses in Kinomoto, it became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2019.
A well in use for 250 years
The brewing water is drawn from an 18-meter-deep well at the brewery. The well was re-dug in 1769, and the brewery has used the same well ever since. A joint study with a university found that this water is rain and snowmelt that fell on the Ibuki Mountains (伊吹山地), such as Mt. Kodakami (己高山) to the east of the brewery, and then took about 35–40 years to travel underground. The water is medium-soft.
Local rice, brewed variety by variety
Tomita Shuzo works with five farming families who have rice fields in Kohoku (湖北, the area on the north side of Lake Biwa), who grow sake rice for the brewery. Each sake is brewed from a single rice variety, and varieties are not mixed.
The sake rice at the heart of the brewery is Shiga’s “Tamasakae (玉栄)”. The brewery also uses “Ginfubuki (吟吹雪)”, a cross of Tamasakae and Yamada Nishiki (山田錦), and “Wataribune (渡船)” and “Shiga Asahi (滋賀旭)”, which were grown in Shiga long ago and for a time had become phantom sake rice varieties.
Since 2004, the brewery has also been making sake from rice that is not polished much. The “rice polishing ratio (seimai buai)” on the label is the share of the rice that remains after polishing. A rice polishing ratio of 80% means that only 20% of the outer part of the rice was polished away. Here are three Tamasakae sakes with different degrees of polishing (checked on September 30, 2026).
- Shichihonyari Junmai Tamasakae (七本鎗 純米 玉栄) — A “junmai-shu”, sake made only from rice, rice koji and water, and the brewery’s standard. Rice polishing ratio 60%. It has rich umami and firm acidity, and can be drunk chilled or warmed
- Shichihonyari Junmai Daiginjo Tamasakae (七本鎗 純米大吟醸 玉栄) — A “junmai daiginjo” made only from rice, rice koji and water, with more than half of the outer part of the rice polished away. Rice polishing ratio 45%. The aroma is restrained and it feels clean in the mouth
- Shichihonyari Low-Polish Junmai, 80% Polishing Ratio (七本鎗 低精白純米 80%精米) — A junmai-shu made from Tamasakae that has not been polished much. Rice polishing ratio 80%
Pesticide-free rice, wooden vats, and kimoto
In 2010, the brewery began growing sake rice without pesticides together with farmers. The sake made from this rice is “Muu (無有)”. Also from 2010, it has been making “Kokoku (琥刻)”, an aged sake that is laid down for a long time.
In 2016, the brewery added a brewing building made with traditional methods, using old timber left at the brewery and wood from the region. Here it makes “Kinowa (木ノ環)”, brewed in wooden vats, and kimoto sake (kimoto: a traditional method in which the yeast that starts fermentation is grown with the help of natural lactic acid bacteria living in the brewery).
The brewery writes this about Shichihonyari.
Narrow in where it comes from, wide in where it goes. We hope that a glass born in this land becomes the chance for someone, somewhere, to meet this land.
出どころは狭く、出先は広く。この地で生まれた一杯が、どこかでこの土地と出会う、そのきっかけになればと願う。 ——From the Tomita Shuzo official website, page “Shichihonyari”
Visiting the brewery
Tours and the shop
Tomita Shuzo does not accept brewery tours (checked on September 30, 2026).
The brewery has a shop. Opening hours are 9:00–17:00, and it closes on irregular days (checked on September 30, 2026). For the products the shop carries, please contact the brewery before visiting (phone 0749-82-2013).
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Getting there
Address: 〒529-0425 滋賀県長浜市木之本町木之本1107
- Train: About a 7-minute walk from JR Kinomoto (木ノ本) Station. Please check train times on the JR West website
Nearby
At Kinomoto Jizoin (浄信寺) near the brewery, the “木之本地蔵大縁日” fair is held every August. Please check the dates on Kinomoto Jizoin’s official website.
Where to buy Tomita Shuzo’s sake
Tomita Shuzo does not publish a list of stockists or authorized retailers (tokuyakuten) (checked on September 30, 2026).
The brewery has an official online store, but it does not sell sake. It sells sake lees (sake kasu), sweets, bath salts and soaps, tenugui hand towels, sake vessels and other items.
One of the liquor stores that carries Shichihonyari is IMADEYA, which has shops in Chiba, Tokyo and elsewhere. It carries Shichihonyari in its own online store (carrying confirmed on the store’s website, September 30, 2026). Please check with each shop for its stock.
Before you buy
- Shichihonyari has many products, and the rice used and the rice polishing ratio 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, 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 | 冨田酒造有限会社 (Tomita Shuzo Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | Early in the Tenbun era (1532–1555) |
| Representative | 冨田泰伸 |
| Address | 〒529-0425 滋賀県長浜市木之本町木之本1107 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0749-82-2013 |
| Main brand | Shichihonyari (七本鎗) |
| Brewing water | Well water at the brewery (18 m deep) |
| Official website | https://7yari.co.jp/ |
| Brewery tours | Not possible |
| Shop | Yes (9:00–17:00, closes on irregular days) |
| Official online store | Yes (no sake sold) |
| 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 |