Who will enjoy this brewery
- People who want to try sake made with traditional brewing methods
- People who want to try sake made from rice grown in the area where the brewery stands
- People who want to choose sake from Tochigi at liquor stores in Tokyo or Utsunomiya
- People who want to buy local sake to take home while traveling in Tochigi Prefecture (for brewery tours, please contact the brewery directly)
About Senkin
SENKIN inc. (株式会社せんきん, Senkin) is a sake brewery in Sakura (さくら市), Tochigi Prefecture. It was founded in 1806. Its brand is “Senkin (仙禽)”. The name Senkin stands for the crane, and the brewery’s symbol is also a crane that lives in the world of the immortals.
Senkin’s current motto is “江戸返り” (“a return to Edo”). Many sake brewing techniques, such as kan-jikomi (brewing in the cold season) and sandan-jikomi (three-stage mashing), were established in the Edo period. The brewery has gone back to the thinking of that time and is choosing its ingredients and brewing methods anew.
For brewery tours, please contact the brewery directly before visiting. You can find a store to buy Senkin from the list of authorized retailers (tokuyakuten: liquor stores that have a special agreement with the brewery) that the brewery publishes.
Senkin was among the prize-winning sakes 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).
Growing both the rice and the sake from the same water source
The Kinugawa River (鬼怒川) flows through Sakura. Senkin’s “Modern” and “Classic” are brewed with underground water from the Kinugawa River.
The brewery describes its approach to this land with the word “domaine”. This is a word from the world of wine, and it refers to a producer who makes wine from grapes grown in its own vineyards. Senkin’s sake rice (rice suited to making sake) — Kamenoo (亀の尾), Yamada Nishiki (山田錦) and Omachi (雄町) — is grown on the same underground water source as the brewery. The brewery calls this rice the rice of “Domaine Sakura”.
The brewery aims to make all of its sake rice organically grown rice, produced without pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
“Gengenshu” Kamenoo
Kamenoo is an old rice that is the root of Japan’s delicious table rice varieties, such as Koshihikari and Sasanishiki. Over many years, its appearance and character have gradually changed. The brewery grows “gengenshu” (原原種, original foundation seed) Kamenoo, which keeps the character of the Kamenoo of old, in Sakura, and aims to make it Senkin’s main sake rice.
Three lines made only with kimoto
The brewing method at the heart of 江戸返り is “kimoto” (生酛). Kimoto is a method in which lactic acid bacteria are grown in the shubo (yeast starter: yeast grown to start fermentation), and their lactic acid protects it from unwanted microbes. Senkin has decided to make all of its sake with kimoto.
Here are its three main lines (as of October 1, 2026).
- Senkin Modern — The sake rice is Yamada Nishiki grown in Sakura. It is a genshu (undiluted sake: sake bottled without adding water) with 13% alcohol, and it uses no additives. Four versions come out at different times of the year: a namazake that has not been heat-treated (pasteurization, hiire), a pasteurized version, a version that keeps some cloudiness (origarami), and a sparkling genshu
- Senkin Classic — The sake rice is gengenshu Kamenoo grown in Sakura. No yeast is added; it is fermented with the yeast that lives in the brewery. It is a genshu with 13% alcohol, and two versions, a namazake and a pasteurized one, come out at different times of the year
- Senkin Organic Nature — Made only from rice, rice koji and water, using organically grown Kamenoo (亀ノ尾) from Domaine Sakura. Only 10% of the outside of the rice is polished away, and the rice polishing ratio (seimai buai: the share of the rice that remains after polishing) is 90%. It is brewed in wooden vats, and no yeast is added. It is a genshu with 14% alcohol
The specifications differ from product to product in every line, so please check the label for the type and ingredients.
Visiting the brewery
For brewery tours, please contact the brewery directly before visiting (phone 028-681-0011). Whether the brewery sells sake on site is not published (checked on October 1, 2026).
Address: 〒329-1321 栃木県さくら市馬場106
- By train: About a 15-minute walk from 氏家 Station on the JR Utsunomiya Line. Please check train times with JR East
The travel times are estimates as of September 2026.
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Senkin’s sake
The brewery publishes a list of Senkin’s authorized retailers on a dedicated website. It lists 79 stores from Hokkaido to Kyushu. From the list, we have chosen stores that are easy to drop in on during a trip (checked on October 1, 2026).
| Area | Store | Address | Store website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sakura (氏家) | けんもく商店 | 栃木県さくら市氏家2506 Open in Google Maps | https://www.kenmoku.net/ |
| Sakura (氏家) | 滝澤酒店 | 栃木県さくら市氏家1917-3 Open in Google Maps | https://takizawa-sake.com/ |
| Utsunomiya | 目加田商店 | 栃木県宇都宮市一番町2-3 Open in Google Maps | https://mekatasaketen.com/ |
| Tokyo, Azabu-Juban | はせがわ酒店 麻布十番店 | 東京都港区麻布十番2-3-3 Open in Google Maps | https://www.hasegawasaketen.com/ |
| Tokyo, Yotsuya | 地酒専門店鈴伝 | 東京都新宿区四谷1-10 Open in Google Maps | http://suzuden-sake.com/ |
| Tokyo, Sendagi | 伊勢五本店 千駄木店 | 東京都文京区千駄木3-3-13 Open in Google Maps | https://isego.net/ |
| Osaka | 山中酒の店 | 大阪府大阪市浪速区敷津西1-10-19 Open in Google Maps | https://yamanaka-sake.jp/ |
| Kyoto | タキモト | 京都府京都市下京区六条通り高倉東入升屋60 Open in Google Maps | http://www.meishukan-takimoto.com/ |
| Kyoto | にしむら酒店 | 京都府京都市左京区北白川久保田町3 Open in Google Maps | https://nishimura-saketen.com/ |
| Fukuoka, Hakata | とどろき酒店 | 福岡県福岡市博多区三筑2-2-31 Open in Google Maps | https://todoroki-saketen.com/ |
Please check the list for other stores and each store’s contact details.
Before you buy
- Whether a store carries the sake, and its stock, differ from store to store. Limited editions and seasonal products may not be stocked, so please check with the store before visiting.
- Namazake needs to be kept refrigerated.
- 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 | 株式会社せんきん (SENKIN inc.) |
| Founded | 1806 (the 3rd year of the Bunka era) |
| Address | 〒329-1321 栃木県さくら市馬場106 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 028-681-0011 (fax 028-682-0011) |
| Main brand | Senkin (仙禽) |
| Official website | http://www.senkin.co.jp/ |
| Brewery tours | Please contact the brewery directly |
| Sales at the brewery | Not published |
| List of stockists | Published on a dedicated website (79 stores, checked on October 1, 2026) |
| English support | English pages on the official website |