Who will enjoy this brewery
- People traveling in Ishikawa Prefecture who want to stop at “Tengumai SAKE SHOP mau.”, the shop attached to the brewery, and compare Tengumai sakes in a paid tasting (there are no brewery tours)
- People who want to try sake made by the method called “yamahai”, with clear acidity and umami
- People who want to see with their own eyes sake that has not had its color removed with charcoal, and that has taken on a yellowish tint from aging at the brewery
About Shata Shuzo
Shata Shuzo (車多酒造) is a brewery in Bomaru-machi (坊丸町), in Hakusan (白山市), Ishikawa Prefecture. It was founded in 1823, in the late Edo period, and marked its 200th anniversary in 2023. Its brand is “Tengumai (天狗舞)”. The representative director is Kazunari Shata (車多一成).
Shata Shuzo does not offer brewery tours (checked on October 19, 2026). Attached to the brewery is a shop, “Tengumai SAKE SHOP mau.”, where you can buy sake and also taste for a fee.
Water from Hakusan, and rice from the Kaga Plain
The brewery stands in the 林中 district, in the middle of the Kaga Plain, looking out on Hakusan (白山). The brewery makes its sake with underground water (water that flows beneath the ground) that wells up from Hakusan, and with rice grown on the Kaga Plain. The brewery’s stated principles also include valuing the underground water of Hakusan and passing it on to later generations, and working together with the farmers who grow sake rice (rice suited to making sake).
In its own rice fields, handed down over generations, the brewery also grows the sake rice “Gohyakumangoku (五百万石)” with the cooperation of local farmers in 林中. There is also a product made only from the rice of these fields.
The first of the brewery’s principles is to carry on the handcraft culture of the “Noto toji (能登杜氏)”, a group of toji from the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture. The toji is the person responsible for making the sake. The brewery uses a rice-polishing machine for polishing, and also uses machines for steps that do not affect quality, such as rice washing and pressing. On the other hand, making the koji, and making the shubo (酒母), the base for fermentation, rely on people’s five senses and experience.
The “Tengumai style” of yamahai, built in the late 1960s to early 1970s
Many of Tengumai’s sakes are made by the “yamahai” method. Yamahai is a way of making the shubo that stops the traditional work of grinding steamed rice, rice koji and water together, called “yama-oroshi”.
Tengumai’s yamahai was built up in the late 1960s to early 1970s (1965–1974) by Toshiro Shata (車多壽郎), the seventh head of the family, and the toji Saburo Naka (中三郎). The brewery carries on that method and improves it a little every year. What it aims for is sake with a rich taste and a clean finish.
Yamabuki-colored sake
Tengumai’s regular products are aged (matured) at the brewery before they are bottled and shipped. When sake is aged, it takes on a yamabuki-iro color (a deep yellow close to gold).
The brewery uses as little activated charcoal as possible, which is used to adjust the color of sake. This is to keep the taste of the rice as it is. Also, when making koji, the brewery grows more koji mold than an ordinary brewery does. Because of this, even freshly pressed Tengumai sake has a yellowish color that comes from the koji.
Here are three of the brewery’s products of different types. Prices are as shown on the brewery’s product pages (excluding tax, 720 ml; checked on October 19, 2026).
- Tengumai Yamahai Jikomi Junmai (山廃仕込純米酒) — A “junmai-shu”, made only from rice, rice koji and water, brewed by the yamahai method. The deep aroma and taste typical of yamahai are balanced by acidity. Its color is a deep yamabuki. It can be drunk chilled or as kan (warmed), but the brewery especially recommends nurukan (warmed just slightly) and room temperature. 1,700 yen
- Tengumai Yamahai Junmai Daiginjo (山廃純米大吟醸) — A “junmai daiginjo”, made only from rice, rice koji and water, with more than half of the outer part of the rice polished away, brewed by the yamahai method. It is the brewery’s flagship product, with a rich aroma and taste and a clean, crisp finish. It also has color from aging. It can be drunk chilled to between around 10°C and a temperature below room temperature, or as nurukan at 35–40°C. 3,500 yen (in a gift box)
- Tengumai Junmai Daiginjo 50 (純米大吟醸50) — This is also a junmai daiginjo. It is a relatively light, new type of product with less aging, and has a light umami and a clean acidity. The aroma is gentle, and it is meant to be drunk with food. 1,900 yen
Tengumai has many products, and the ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product. Please check the label for the type. Some Tengumai products, such as “Tengumai Junmai Ginjo 文政六年”, carry the “Hakusan” mark of the “geographical indication (GI)”, a system that protects the names of production areas (the GI “Hakusan” is mentioned in our article on Kikuhime, a brewery in the same city of Hakusan).
Sake made together with a brewery in Noto
In the Noto Peninsula earthquake of January 2024, the damage to Shata Shuzo’s brewery itself was small. However, the homes of the kurabito (brewery workers) were badly damaged. The brewery greatly delayed its plans for sake making in the winter of 2023–2024, and decided to greatly reduce the amount it would make.
Sakurada Shuzo (櫻田酒造) in Suzu (珠洲市), on the Noto Peninsula, had its brewery completely destroyed in this earthquake. Shata Shuzo makes sake together with Sakurada Shuzo, and sells it as “Noto Hatsuzakura (能登初桜) + Tengumai” and “Noto Taikei (能登大慶) × Tengumai”. The profits go toward rebuilding Sakurada Shuzo. Both are sold in the brewery’s official online store (checked on October 19, 2026).
Visiting the brewery
There are no brewery tours
Shata Shuzo does not offer brewery tours (checked on October 19, 2026). If you visit the brewery, go to the shop below.
Tengumai SAKE SHOP mau. (paid tasting)
This is the shop attached to the brewery. The “mau.” in the shop’s name means a place that conveys the appeal of Tengumai (舞う, mau, “to dance”). The interior incorporates “Ushikubi tsumugi (牛首紬)”, a traditional silk textile of Hakusan, and furnishings that reuse things once used in the brewery.
The shop offers a paid tasting menu, exclusive to the brewery, that follows the seasons. The set for comparing three kinds changes with each season; the set from early September 2026 (Yamahai Junmai Daiginjo, Junmai Daiginjo 50 and Yamahai Junmai Hiyaoroshi (山廃純米 ひやおろし)) was 1,100 yen. Please check the contents and prices of the other tasting menus on the shop’s tasting menu page. There are also non-alcoholic items, such as amazake and juice.
| Tengumai SAKE SHOP mau. (checked on October 19, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Address | 石川県白山市坊丸町60番地1 (attached to Shata Shuzo) Open in Google Maps |
| Opening hours | 10:00–16:00 (last order 15:45) |
| Closed | Sundays (open on Saturdays and national holidays). There are temporary closures due to heavy snow and closures over the New Year holidays, so please check the shop’s announcements |
| Tasting | Paid. Seasonal menu |
| Phone | 080-1951-5473 (the shop’s phone) |
| English support | Not published |
If you are driving, please do not take part in the tasting. In Japan, drunk driving is prohibited by law.
Getting there
Address: 〒924-0823 石川県白山市坊丸町60番地1
- By train: The nearest station is Matto Station (松任) on the IR Ishikawa Railway. You can get from Kanazawa Station to Matto Station on the IR Ishikawa Railway. The brewery is about 4 km from Matto Station, so from the station use a car such as a taxi. Please check train times with the IR Ishikawa Railway
- By car: About 8 km, about 15 minutes, from the Hakusan Interchange on the Hokuriku Expressway
Distances and travel times are estimates given by the brewery (checked on October 19, 2026).
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Shata Shuzo’s sake
To buy at the brewery, go to Tengumai SAKE SHOP mau. The brewery also has an official online store, which ships within Japan (free shipping on orders of 11,000 yen or more, tax included; checked on October 19, 2026).
The brewery does not publish a list of stockists on its official website (checked on October 19, 2026). If you are looking for its sake during your trip, please ask the brewery by phone (076-275-1165, weekdays 9:00–17:00), or ask at a liquor store that sells sake.
Before you buy
- Some products are sold only locally, such as “金沢酵母仕込 Junmai Daiginjo” (brewed with Kanazawa yeast), and some are seasonal, such as “Yamahai Junmai Hiyaoroshi”. Limited and seasonal products may be sold out.
- 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
Other breweries in Ishikawa Prefecture are gathered on our Ishikawa Prefecture page.
Brewery facts
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Brewery | 株式会社車多酒造 (Shata Shuzo Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1823 (the 6th year of the Bunsei era) |
| Representative | 車多一成 |
| Address | 〒924-0823 石川県白山市坊丸町60番地1 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 076-275-1165 (fax 076-275-1866). Phone inquiries are accepted on weekdays, 9:00–17:00 |
| Main brands | Tengumai (天狗舞), GoRIN (五凛) |
| Brewing | Many products are made by the yamahai method. Regular products are aged at the brewery before shipping |
| Brewing water | Underground water from Hakusan |
| Official website | https://www.tengumai.co.jp/ |
| Brewery tours | Not offered |
| Brewery shop | Tengumai SAKE SHOP mau. (paid tasting available; closed on Sundays) |
| List of stockists | Not published (checked on October 19, 2026) |
| English support | An English official website is available (https://www.tengumai.co.jp/en ). English support at the shop is not published |