Sake is made in many parts of Japan. For this article, we chose five prefectures where sake brewing thrives, based on the amount of sake they make and their results at national sake competitions. The amount is the amount of sake made in each prefecture during the one year from July 2024 to June 2025.
| Prefecture | Rank by amount made |
|---|---|
| Hyogo (兵庫県) | 1st (about 27% of the total for all of Japan) |
| Kyoto (京都府) | 2nd (about 15%) |
| Niigata (新潟県) | 3rd (about 9%) |
| Akita (秋田県) | 5th (about 4%) |
| Fukushima (福島県) | 9th (about 2%). 1st in the number of gold awards at the competition |
The ranking by amount is not a ranking of taste or reputation. When choosing where to travel, please also look at where the places you can visit are.
Hyogo — “Nada Gogo” along the coast of Kobe
The center of sake brewing in Hyogo Prefecture is “Nada Gogo (灘五郷, the five districts of Nada)”, on the coast of Kobe and Nishinomiya (西宮市). It is made up of five areas — Nishigo, Mikagego, Uozakigo, Nishinomiyago and Imazugo — and Nada Gogo alone makes about 20% of all the sake in Japan.
At the end of the 18th century, the sake of Nada was sent to Edo (today’s Tokyo) and became popular. In a very limited area of Nishinomiya, groundwater called “Miyamizu (宮水)” wells up, and it is used for making sake. Yamada Nishiki (山田錦), the flagship variety of sake rice (sakamai: rice suited to making sake), is also a variety that was born in Hyogo Prefecture.
Along the Hanshin Railway, which connects Osaka and Kobe, there are museums run by breweries.
- Hakutsuru (白鶴): The Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum. It is about a 5-minute walk from Sumiyoshi Station (住吉) on the Hanshin Main Line
- Kiku-Masamune (菊正宗): The Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewery Museum. It is about a 10-minute walk from Uozaki Station (魚崎) on the Hanshin Main Line
Breweries in the prefecture are gathered on the Hyogo page.
Kyoto — almost all of it is made in Fushimi
About 98% of the sake made in Kyoto Prefecture is made in Fushimi (伏見), in the southern part of Kyoto City. Fushimi is a town at the southern edge of the Kyoto Basin, and it was once also written as “伏水” (“underground water”). It is a place where water that has passed beneath the Momoyama Hills (桃山丘陵) springs up at the foot of the hills.
In the Edo period, Fushimi prospered as the gateway of water transport on the Yodo River (淀川), which connected Kyoto and Osaka (大坂; today’s Osaka, 大阪). A townscape lined with white-walled sake breweries still remains, and from spring to autumn the Jukkokubune (十石舟) sightseeing boats travel up and down the 濠川 waterway.
- Gekkeikan (月桂冠): The Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum. It is about a 10-minute walk from Momoyama-goryomae Station (桃山御陵前) on the Kintetsu Kyoto Line. From JR Kyoto Station, take the Kintetsu Kyoto Line from Kintetsu Kyoto Station
The breweries of Fushimi are gathered on the Kyoto page.
Niigata — the prefecture with the most places making sake in Japan
Niigata Prefecture is 3rd by amount, but in this one year, sake was made at 77 places in Niigata, more than in any other prefecture in Japan. There are breweries all over the prefecture.
Mountain areas such as Minamiuonuma (南魚沼市) are places where deep snow piles up in winter. The sake rice Gohyakumangoku (五百万石) is a variety that was born in Niigata Prefecture, and a little over half of the 2024 crop was grown in Niigata Prefecture.
How you can visit differs greatly from brewery to brewery.
- Kubota (久保田) and Asahi Shuzo (朝日酒造): Nagaoka (長岡市). There is a free brewery tour that you can join without booking (guidance in Japanese only)
- Hakkaisan (八海山) and Hakkaisan Brewery (八海醸造): Minamiuonuma. The brewery does not offer brewery tours, but you can eat and shop at the facilities next to the brewery
- Abe Shuzo (阿部酒造): Kashiwazaki (柏崎市). The brewery does not offer brewery tours. The place you can visit is the brewery shop
Breweries in the prefecture are gathered on the Niigata page.
Akita — the prefecture of Akita Sake Komachi
In Akita Prefecture, sake was made at 33 places in this one year. The sake rice Akita Sake Komachi (秋田酒こまち) is a variety developed by Akita Prefecture, and all of the 2024 crop was grown in Akita Prefecture.
The Akita Prefecture Tourism Federation publishes a list of sake breweries that offer tours or “brewery open house” (kura-kaiho, 蔵開放: days when a brewery is opened to the general public). Some breweries have limited tour days, and some require booking, so please check with each brewery before you go.
Fukushima — the prefecture with the most gold awards at the competition
Fukushima Prefecture is 9th by amount, but in this one year, sake was made at 54 places in Fukushima. This is the 4th largest number, after Niigata, Nagano (長野県) and Hyogo.
The Zenkoku Shinshu Kanpyokai (全国新酒鑑評会, National New Sake Competition) is a competition for sake made that year, held every year by the National Research Institute of Brewing and the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association. In the results announced in May 2026, Fukushima Prefecture ranked 1st among all prefectures in the number of gold awards for the second year in a row. Before that, it had also ranked 1st nine times in a row.
In Aizuwakamatsu (会津若松市), there is a brewery that you can visit without booking.
- Suehiro Shuzo (末廣酒造) Kaei-gura (嘉永蔵): Aizuwakamatsu. You can see the inside of the brewery for about 30 minutes with a guide. Groups need to book. It is closed on the second Wednesday of the month (checked on September 30, 2026). From JR Aizuwakamatsu Station, take the “Haikarasan (ハイカラさん)” bus that goes around the city, get off at Nanokamachi-chuo (七日町中央), and walk about 5 minutes.
If you choose by the number of breweries
If you rank prefectures by the number of places where sake is made, instead of by amount, the top five are Niigata, Nagano, Hyogo, Fukushima and Yamagata (山形県). If you want to visit many small breweries, Nagano and Yamagata are also options to consider.
You can look for breweries all over Japan in the List of Sake Breweries.