There is no data that directly measures which sake is popular with people outside Japan. For this article, we used the number of Google searches in English as a clue. For the one year from September 2025 to August 2026, we added up the monthly average number of English searches for each brand and ranked them.
The number of searches shows what people who buy or drink sake outside Japan are looking up. It is not a ranking of taste or quality. The numbers are also only a rough guide, and there is almost no difference in rank between brands with similar numbers. We did not count searches for the names of products made at factories outside Japan, or single-word searches for words that have other meanings besides the brand.
| Rank | Brand | Brewery (location) | English searches (monthly average) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dassai (獺祭) | DASSAI Inc. (Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture) | About 40,000 |
| 2 | Hakutsuru (白鶴) | Hakutsuru Sake Brewing (Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture) | About 20,000 |
| 3 | Kubota (久保田) | Asahi Shuzo (朝日酒造) (Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture) | About 15,000 |
| 4 | Sho Chiku Bai Shirakabegura Mio (松竹梅白壁蔵「澪」) | Takara Shuzo (Shirakabegura in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture) | About 8,000 |
| 5 | Hakkaisan (八海山) | Hakkaisan Brewery (Minamiuonuma, Niigata Prefecture) | About 8,000 |
| 6 | Suigei (酔鯨) | Suigei Brewing (Kochi Prefecture) | About 7,500 |
| 7 | Ozeki (大関) | Ozeki (Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture) | About 6,000 |
| 8 | Kiku-Masamune (菊正宗) | Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewing (Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture) | About 6,000 |
| 9 | Gekkeikan (月桂冠) | Gekkeikan (Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture) | About 5,500 |
| 10 | Rihaku (李白) | Rihaku Sake Brewing (Matsue, Shimane Prefecture) | About 3,500 |
No. 1 Dassai (獺祭)
A brand of DASSAI Inc. (株式会社獺祭) in Iwakuni (岩国), Yamaguchi Prefecture. The brewery makes only junmai daiginjo, sake made only from rice, rice koji and water, with more than half of the outside of the rice polished away. In English, searches for product names with numbers, such as “Dassai 45” and “Dassai 23”, stand out. The number shows how far the rice was polished (What is Dassai?).
Brewery tours require booking, and the 13:00 tour on weekdays is the slot with an English guide (subject to approval; checked on September 30, 2026). → The Dassai brewery
No. 2 Hakutsuru (白鶴)
A brand of Hakutsuru Sake Brewing (白鶴酒造) in Higashinada Ward (東灘区), Kobe. In English searches, the nigori (cloudy sake) “Sayuri” is often looked up. Sayuri is made in Hyogo Prefecture and is sold in Japan under the name “上撰 白鶴 純米にごり酒 さゆり” (checked on September 30, 2026).
The Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum is free to enter, and groups of fewer than 10 do not need to book. It is about a 5-minute walk from Sumiyoshi Station (住吉) on the Hanshin Main Line. → The Hakutsuru brewery
No. 3 Kubota (久保田)
A brand released in 1985 by Asahi Shuzo (朝日酒造) in Nagaoka (長岡), Niigata Prefecture. In English, people also search for the product names “Kubota Manju (萬寿)” and “Kubota Senju (千寿)”.
At the brewery, there is a free 20-minute tour that you can join without booking. The guidance is in Japanese only (checked on September 30, 2026). There are also brewery-owned shops in the station buildings at JR Nagaoka Station and JR Niigata Station. → Kubota and Asahi Shuzo
No. 4 Sho Chiku Bai Shirakabegura Mio (松竹梅白壁蔵「澪」)
A sparkling sake that Takara Shuzo (宝酒造) makes at Sho Chiku Bai Shirakabegura (松竹梅白壁蔵) in Nada (灘), Kobe. The alcohol content is 5%. The suggested retail price of a 300 ml bottle is 585 yen (excluding tax; checked on October 6, 2026). → Sho Chiku Bai Shirakabegura
We did not count searches for the name “Sho Chiku Bai (松竹梅)” alone. This is because, in the United States, the main products with this name are made by Takara Sake USA in California.
No. 5 Hakkaisan (八海山)
A brand of Hakkaisan Brewery (八海醸造) in Minamiuonuma (南魚沼), Niigata Prefecture. English searches also include a product aged for three years in a “yukimuro (snow storage room)”, a storehouse cooled by snow.
The brewery does not usually offer brewery tours. At “Uonuma no Sato (魚沼の里)” next to the brewery, you can eat and shop, and there is also a tour of the yukimuro (fee charged; Japanese only) (checked on September 30, 2026). → Hakkaisan and Hakkaisan Brewery
No. 6 Suigei (酔鯨)
A brand of Suigei Brewing (酔鯨酒造) in Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture. The name comes from Yamauchi Yodo (山内容堂), the lord of the Tosa domain (Tosa, today’s Kochi Prefecture), who loved sake and called himself “鯨海酔侯” (“the drunken lord of the sea where whales live”). In English searches, the name “Drunken Whale” also appears.
At the Tosa-gura brewery in Tosa City, there are brewery tours that require booking. The tour takes 50 minutes, costs 1,000 yen and includes two cups for tasting. There are no tours on Tuesdays. Sake is brewed from October to May (checked on September 30, 2026). It is about 40 minutes by car from JR Kochi Station. → The Suigei brewery
No. 7 Ozeki (大関)
A brand of Ozeki (大関) in Nishinomiya (西宮), Hyogo Prefecture, founded in 1711. In 1964, it released “One Cup Ozeki (ワンカップ大関)”, sake in a cup. In English, people also search for product names such as “Karatamba (辛丹波)”. We did not count searches such as “Ozeki Dry”, which is made at the company’s factory in the United States.
On the grounds of the brand shop “Sekijuan (甘辛の関寿庵)” near the head office is “Sakigake-gura (魁蔵)”, a small brewery whose brewing room has glass walls. You can see it from 10:00 to 18:00, and it is closed on Wednesdays (checked on September 30, 2026). You can walk there from Imazu Station (今津) on the Hanshin Railway. → The Ozeki brewery
No. 8 Kiku-Masamune (菊正宗)
A brand of Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewing (菊正宗酒造) in Higashinada Ward, Kobe. The brewery keeps up “kimoto (生酛)”, an old method in which the shubo (yeast starter; the culture of yeast that starts fermentation) is made by hand over about four weeks.
The Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewery Museum is free to enter, and groups of fewer than 10 do not need to book. It is closed on Tuesdays. It is about a 10-minute walk from Uozaki Station (魚崎) on the Hanshin Main Line (checked on September 30, 2026). → The Kiku-Masamune brewery
No. 9 Gekkeikan (月桂冠)
A brand of Gekkeikan Sake Company (月桂冠) in Fushimi Ward (伏見区), Kyoto; the brewery was founded in 1637. Taken together, English searches for the Gekkeikan name and its product names come close to the number for Dassai. However, more than 80% of them were for product names such as “Black & Gold”, made in California by the company’s American subsidiary. The number in the table counts only searches for products made in Japan, such as the junmai daiginjo “Horin (鳳麟)”.
The Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum in Fushimi can be entered without booking (fee charged). Visitors aged 20 and over can taste three kinds (checked on September 30, 2026). → The Gekkeikan brewery
No. 10 Rihaku (李白)
A brand of Rihaku Sake Brewing (李白酒造) in Matsue (松江), Shimane Prefecture, founded in 1882. In 1928, the brewery received a sake name taken from Li Bai, a poet of the Tang dynasty in China, from former prime minister Reijiro Wakatsuki (若槻礼次郎), who was born in Matsue. In English searches, the English product names “Wandering Poet” and “Dreamy Clouds” are also often looked up.
At the “Rihaku tasting corner” attached to the brewery, you can taste for free and buy sake. It is open 8:30–18:00 on weekdays and 10:00–17:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and closed January 1–3 (sometimes closed on other days; checked on September 30, 2026). From JR Matsue Station, take a bus and get off at “石橋町 (Ishibashi-cho)”, then walk about 3 minutes. → The Rihaku brewery
When looking in Japan
The product name used abroad may differ from the name on the Japanese label. In stores, please show the brand names in kanji from this article.
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information 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