Who will enjoy this brewery
- People who want to stop in Ueda and walk through an old townscape on the way toward Nagano or Kanazawa on the Hokuriku Shinkansen (high-speed rail)
- People who want to choose and buy sake at the brewery-owned store rather than take a brewery tour (Okazaki Shuzo does not offer brewery tours)
- People who want to taste and compare the differences between sake rice (rice suited to making sake) varieties from Nagano Prefecture, in sake from the same brewery
About Okazaki Shuzo
Okazaki Shuzo (岡崎酒造) is a sake brewery in Yanagimachi (柳町), Ueda (上田市), Nagano Prefecture. It was founded in 1665 (the 5th year of the Kanbun era), early in the Edo period. Its brand is “Shinshu Kirei (信州亀齢)”. The name “Kirei” (亀齢) comes from the saying “the crane lives a thousand years, the turtle ten thousand years”, and was given as a wish for long life.
Okazaki Shuzo does not offer brewery tours (checked on September 30, 2026). Its sake is sold at the brewery-owned store. As of September 25, 2026, the store’s sake was sold out, and sales of the new-season sake are planned for around late October.
Yanagimachi, a town on the Hokkoku Kaido
Ueda is a town in a basin surrounded by mountains large and small, with the Chikuma River (千曲川) flowing through the middle. The area around Okazaki Shuzo is the castle town of Ueda Castle (上田城).
Yanagimachi, where Okazaki Shuzo stands, is a street along the old Hokkoku Kaido (北国街道). The Hokkoku Kaido was a road that linked the Nakasendo (中山道) and the Hokurikudo (北陸道), and Yanagimachi was an important point on it. It is about a 10-minute walk from Ueda Castle, and it is lined with white earthen walls, houses with latticed doors, and sake brewers that hang a sugidama (a ball of bundled cedar leaves that marks a sake brewery). Today it is a street of shops selling local sake, local wine, Shinshu soba, bread, sweets and more.
The Yanagimachi street is narrow and has no sidewalk. In fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2026, Ueda City has put up signs asking vehicles other than local ones to refrain from entering Yanagimachi street.
Water from 菅平 and sake rice from Nagano Prefecture
Okazaki Shuzo makes its sake mainly with water from the 菅平 (すがだいら) water system and with sake rice from within Nagano Prefecture.
Many of the brewery’s products have the name of the sake rice they use in their name: “Hitogokochi (ひとごこち)”, “Miyama Nishiki (美山錦)”, “金紋錦”, “山恵錦”, “Yamada Nishiki (山田錦)” and others. Of these, Miyama Nishiki and Hitogokochi were both developed at the Nagano Prefectural Agricultural Experiment Station. The ingredients and rice polishing ratio differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type and the name of the rice.
Sake made from terraced-field rice
The “Inagura Terraced Rice Fields (稲倉の棚田)” in Ueda were selected in 1999 as one of the “100 Best Terraced Rice Fields of Japan”. The fields, divided by banks of piled stones, spread out as if climbing the mountain along a valley, and the difference in elevation between the top and the bottom is about 260 meters.
Okazaki Shuzo grows sake rice in the Inagura Terraced Rice Fields and works to protect the environment of the terraces. The product made from that rice is “Inagura no Tanada Hitogokochi Junmai Ginjo”. It is 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. There is also a “nama” product that has not been heat-treated (pasteurized).
Small batches made with care
The features of Okazaki Shuzo’s sake making are “gentei kyusui” (limited water absorption), “hako koji” (box koji) and “kojikomi” (small-batch brewing).
- Gentei kyusui (限定吸水): When the rice is soaked in water, the soaking time is shortened to limit how much water it absorbs, so that the rice does not take in too much water
- Hako koji (箱麹): When rice koji is made by growing koji mold on steamed rice, the rice is heaped in fairly large boxes to grow
- Kojikomi (小仕込): Keeping the amount brewed at one time small
Since 2003, 岡崎美都里 has served as toji (master brewer; the person responsible for sake making). She studied brewing at Tokyo University of Agriculture and has worked at a company that sells alcoholic beverages.
Here are three different types from the brewery’s product list. Prices include tax (checked on September 30, 2026).
- Hitogokochi Junmai-shu — A “junmai-shu”, sake made only from rice, rice koji and water. 1,760 yen for 720 ml, and 3,300 yen for an isshobin (1.8-liter bottle)
- Miyama Nishiki Junmai Ginjo — 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. 2,090 yen for 720 ml
- 銀亀 Miyama Nishiki Junmai Daiginjo — A “junmai daiginjo”, made only from rice, rice koji and water, with more than half of the outer part of the rice polished away. 4,840 yen for 720 ml
Visiting the brewery
Brewery tours and the brewery-owned store
Okazaki Shuzo does not offer brewery tours (checked on September 30, 2026).
There is a “brewery-owned store” (蔵元直営店). It is at the same address as the brewery.
| Brewery-owned store (checked on September 30, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Opening hours | 9:00–16:00 |
| Closed | No regular closing days (in 2026 it was closed on January 1 and 2, and on September 8 and 9) |
| Sales | Up to 1 bottle per person per day |
| Stock | Sold out as of September 25, 2026. The new-season sake is planned to go on sale around late October |
| Latest sales status | Announced on the brewery’s Instagram |
| Phone | 0268-22-0149 |
Whether tasting is available has not been published.
The inn across the street
Across the street from Okazaki Shuzo is “酒蔵ホテル KIREI (Kirei)”, a whole-building rental inn run by a different company (KURABITO STAY, inc.). It opened on May 7, 2025. The building is a renovated merchant house that was moved to this site in the Taisho era, and only one group (1–4 people) stays at a time. From 17:00 in the evening, a chef who is also a kurabito (brewery worker) who brews sake serves five kinds of Shinshu Kirei paired with small dishes. People under 20 cannot stay. Please check bookings and conditions on the inn’s official website. It also has pages in English.
Getting there
Address: 〒386-0012 長野県上田市中央4丁目7-33
- Train: The nearest station is Ueda (上田) Station. The JR Hokuriku Shinkansen (for Tokyo, Nagano and Kanazawa) and the Shinano Railway stop at Ueda Station. The brewery is about 1.1 kilometers from Ueda Station, about a 17-minute walk
- Bus: Routes stopping at the “房山” stop of Ueda Bus, and the “木町” stop of the city-center loop bus, are nearby
- Car: Use a nearby coin-operated parking lot (タイムズ上田柳町)
Please check train times on JR East and Shinano Railway, and bus times on Ueda Bus. It is a good idea to check your return service as well.
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Okazaki Shuzo’s sake
The place to buy at the brewery is the brewery-owned store. The brewery’s official website had no link to an online shop (checked on September 30, 2026).
Authorized retailers of Shinshu Kirei
The brewery publishes a list of authorized retailers (tokuyakuten) on its official website. It lists stores in Nagano Prefecture as well as in Miyagi, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Ishikawa, Shizuoka, Osaka, Hiroshima, Tokushima and Saga — 46 stores in all. The brewery asks you to contact each store about stock. We have chosen stores that are easy to stop by during a trip (checked on September 30, 2026).
| Area | Store | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Ueda | 地酒屋 宮島 | 長野県上田市真田町長5913-1 Open in Google Maps |
| Ueda | 原商店 | 長野県上田市上塩尻260 Open in Google Maps |
| Nagano | 信州くらうど | 長野県長野市南千歳1-22-6 MIDORI長野 2F Open in Google Maps |
| Nagano | 有限会社 青沼酒店 | 長野県長野市南県町653 Open in Google Maps |
| Matsumoto | おもや平出酒店 | 長野県松本市大手4-10-13 Open in Google Maps |
| Tokyo (Shimbashi) | 信州おさけ村 | 東京都港区新橋2-20-15 新橋駅前ビル1号館1F Open in Google Maps |
| Tokyo (Ginza) | GINN | 東京都中央区銀座7-14-15 SKビル1F Open in Google Maps |
| Tokyo (Yotsuya) | 地酒専門店 鈴傳 | 東京都新宿区四谷1-10 Open in Google Maps |
| Tokyo (Asakusabashi) | SAKE Street | 東京都台東区柳橋1-11-5 柳橋ビル1F Open in Google Maps |
| Osaka | マルホ酒店 | 大阪府大阪市西区九条南2-16-11 Open in Google Maps |
For other stores, please check the brewery’s list.
Before you buy
- Whether a store carries the sake, and its stock, differ from store to store. Limited and seasonal products may not arrive at every store, so please check with the store before visiting.
- Shinshu Kirei has many products, and the ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product. Please check the label for the type.
- In Hiroshima Prefecture there is a different brewery (亀齢酒造) that makes a brand called “Kirei (亀齢)”. The brand name of Okazaki Shuzo in Nagano Prefecture is “Shinshu Kirei (信州亀齢)”.
- 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 | 岡崎酒造株式会社 (Okazaki Shuzo Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1665 (the 5th year of the Kanbun era) |
| Representative | Representative Director 岡崎謙一 |
| Address | 〒386-0012 長野県上田市中央4丁目7-33 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0268-22-0149 (fax 0268-22-0199) |
| Main brand | Shinshu Kirei (信州亀齢) |
| Official website | https://shinshu-kirei.com/ |
| Brewery tours | Not available |
| Sales at the brewery | Brewery-owned store (9:00–16:00, no regular closing days, up to 1 bottle per person per day) |
| List of stockists | Published on the official website (46 stores; checked on September 30, 2026) |
| English support | Not published |