Who will enjoy this brewery
- People traveling on the JR Tohoku Main Line who want to buy sake at a brewery shop within walking distance of the station (as a rule, the brewery does not accept brewery tours from the general public)
- People who want to walk along a street that still keeps traces of an Edo-period post town
- People who want to try sake made by “kimoto (生酛)”, a traditional way of making sake
About Hagino Shuzo
Hagino Shuzo (萩野酒造) is a brewery in Kannari Arikabe (金成有壁), Kurihara (栗原市), Miyagi Prefecture. It was founded in 1840. It has two brands: “Haginotsuru (萩の鶴)” and “Hiwata (日輪田)”. The representative director is 佐藤曜平.
As a rule, Hagino Shuzo does not accept brewery tours from the general public (checked on October 23, 2026). The brewery has its own shop, which sells some of Hagino Shuzo’s sake from Monday to Saturday.
Opposite the honjin of a post town
Arikabe was a post town on the Oshu Kaido (奥州街道) in the Edo period. The post station had a “honjin (本陣)”, an inn where feudal lords (daimyo) and others stayed. The Former Arikabe-juku Honjin stood between Kannari-juku and Ichinoseki-juku on the Oshu Kaido. Feudal lords of the Tohoku region traveling to and from Edo under the alternate attendance system (参勤交代), as well as officials of the shogunate and the Sendai Domain, rested and stayed there. It is now designated a National Historic Site.
Hagino Shuzo stands opposite this Former Arikabe-juku Honjin. The 佐藤 family, who were called the “waki-honjin (脇本陣, a secondary inn)” near the honjin, started the brewery in 1840, toward the end of the Edo period. The brewery stopped making sake during World War II, and resumed in 1948. The brewery’s landmark is its red chimney.
The “萩” in the brand name “Haginotsuru” comes from the fact that this area has long been known for the beauty of its hagi (萩, bush clover, a low shrub that blooms with small reddish-purple flowers in autumn). This is combined with “鶴”, the crane, considered a bird of good fortune.
Mountain water and Miyagi rice
The brewery is surrounded by mountains and rice paddies. The brewing water is soft water that wells up from a mountain owned by the brewery, and it is piped directly to the brewery.
For rice, the brewery uses “Kura no Hana (蔵の華)”, a sake rice (rice suited to making sake) developed in Miyagi Prefecture, as well as “Miyama Nishiki”, “Omachi (雄町)”, “Yamada Nishiki (山田錦)” and others, and it also buys rice from local contract farmers.
The idea the brewery holds up is “make good things, only a little” (「良いものを少しだけ造る」). The brewery describes the sake it aims for like this (from the “Concept” page of Hagino Shuzo’s official website).
“To use a comparison: rather than a dressy outfit worn only once in a while, we want to brew a sake like a T-shirt that you can wear every day and feel comfortable in — casual, yet of fine quality.” 「例えるならば、たまに着るよそ行きのドレスよりも、毎日着られて心地のいい、カジュアルでありながらも上質なTシャツのような酒を醸したいと考えております。」
Fermenting slowly in small tanks
At Hagino Shuzo, the amount of rice put into one fermentation tank is kept small, at 600–1,000 kg, and the brewing goes ahead while the temperature is finely adjusted. The fermenting liquid, “moromi (もろみ)”, is kept to about 11–14°C even at its warmest, and is fermented over about 22–25 days.
To press the moromi, the brewery uses a machine, and it also does “fukuro-shibori (袋しぼり)”: the moromi is put into cotton bags that are hung inside a tank, and only the part that drips out naturally by gravity is collected. Most Haginotsuru and Hiwata sake is not filtered with activated charcoal, which is used to adjust color, among other things. After the sake is bottled and heated, it is stored in the bottle in refrigerators, and shipped once the brewery has judged how it is maturing.
The brewery building was newly built in 2012, partly because of the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011.
Haginotsuru and Hiwata
Haginotsuru is the brewery’s core brand, long drunk in the local area. The brewery aims for a clean, crisp taste typical of Miyagi that you do not tire of drinking.
Hiwata is a brand that 佐藤曜平 started in 2002, after graduating from the brewing department of Tokyo University of Agriculture and returning to the brewery. All Hiwata sake is “junmai-shu”, made only from rice, rice koji and water. The name refers to round rice paddies of ancient times, where grain offered to the gods was grown. It also carries the wish that people enjoy the blessings of the “sun (日)” and the “rice paddies (田)” together, in a “circle (輪)”. Since 2021, Hiwata has been made by “kimoto”. Kimoto is a traditional method in which lactic acid bacteria are made to produce lactic acid in the “shubo (酒母, yeast starter)”, the base of sake, and the shubo is raised over time (→ Yamahai).
Here are three different kinds of product from the brewery.
- Haginotsuru Junmai Daiginjo (萩の鶴 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. The rice is Miyama Nishiki. Its aroma is not overly showy, and it has a refined, clean taste and a long-lasting aftertaste
- Hiwata しぼりたて Kimoto Junmai Nama Genshu (日輪田 しぼりたて 生酛純米生原酒, freshly pressed) — A kimoto junmai-shu released around February as the winter’s new-season sake. It is a “nama genshu (生原酒)”, neither heated nor diluted with water, and it is slightly cloudy. Fermentation continues in the bottle, and the fizz grows stronger if the bottle is left unopened, so keep it in a refrigerator and be careful with the stopper when opening it
- Haginotsuru メガネ専用 (“for glasses wearers”) — A product born in 2015, because October 1 is “Sake Day” and also “Glasses Day”, and because the brewery owner and the kurabito (brewery workers) all wore glasses. It comes out around September every year
There is also the “Haginotsuru 別仕込” series, released each season with cat pictures on the labels (さくら猫 in spring, 真夏の猫 in summer, and others). The ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type.
Visiting the brewery
As a rule, there are no brewery tours for the general public
As a rule, Hagino Shuzo does not accept brewery tours from the general public (checked on October 23, 2026). If you visit the brewery, go to the brewery’s shop below.
From time to time, the brewery holds events such as gatherings where participants take part in rice planting or rice harvesting and taste Haginotsuru and Hiwata, and new-season sake tasting events that include a brewery tour (held in 2024–2025). Participants are recruited each time through the announcements on the official website.
The brewery’s shop
| Hagino Shuzo’s shop (checked on October 23, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Address | 宮城県栗原市金成有壁新町52番地 (Hagino Shuzo) Open in Google Maps |
| Opening hours | Monday–Saturday 9:30–12:00, 13:00–17:00 |
| Closed | Sundays and national holidays, the Obon holiday period (mid-August), the New Year holidays (late December to early January). The shop may close or change its hours without notice for the brewery’s own reasons |
| Products | Only some of Hagino Shuzo’s sake. No other alcoholic drinks or food |
| Payment | Credit cards and electronic money are accepted |
| Other | Delivery and gift wrapping are not available |
| Phone | 0228-44-2214 |
Opening during Obon differs from year to year. For months that include Obon, the New Year holidays or long public holidays, the shop’s opening days are posted in the announcements on the official website as a “店舗営業カレンダー (the shop’s opening calendar)”. During the lunch break, or when no staff are available, the shop may be unattended.
Getting there
Address: 〒989-4806 宮城県栗原市金成有壁新町52番地
- By train: About 5 minutes on foot from Arikabe Station (有壁駅) on the JR Tohoku Main Line. If you use the Shinkansen (high-speed rail), change to the Tohoku Main Line at Ichinoseki Station (一ノ関駅, Iwate Prefecture). IC transit cards (such as Suica) cannot be used at Arikabe Station. Please buy a ticket before boarding. The trains are run by the driver alone (no conductor). Please check the times on the JR East timetable, including your train back
- By car: There is parking for 2 cars on the brewery grounds, and the parking lot diagonally across from the shop can also be used
Travel times are estimates given by the brewery (checked on October 23, 2026).
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Hagino Shuzo’s sake
To buy at the brewery, go to the brewery’s shop above. The shop carries only some of the brewery’s products.
Hagino Shuzo does not publish a list of stockists on its official website (checked on October 23, 2026). The brewery says it will introduce nearby stockists by email (info@hagino-shuzou.co.jp). Replies take longer on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays, and during the New Year holidays. The official website has no information about an online shop.
Before you buy
- Some nama genshu and seasonal products need to be kept refrigerated. Put them in the refrigerator when you arrive at your accommodation.
- Seasonal products and products made in small quantities 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 Miyagi Prefecture are gathered on our Miyagi Prefecture page.
Brewery facts
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Brewery | 萩野酒造株式会社 (Hagino Shuzo Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1840 (the 11th year of the Tenpo era). The company was established in 1923 |
| Representative | 佐藤曜平, representative director |
| Address | 〒989-4806 宮城県栗原市金成有壁新町52番地 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0228-44-2214 (fax 0228-44-2026) |
| Main brands | Haginotsuru (萩の鶴), Hiwata (日輪田) |
| Brewing water | Soft water that wells up from a mountain owned by the brewery |
| Official website | https://www.hagino-shuzou.co.jp/ |
| Brewery tours | As a rule, not accepted from the general public |
| Direct sales | The brewery’s shop (Monday–Saturday. Closed Sundays and national holidays) |
| List of stockists | Not published (nearby stockists are introduced by email. Checked on October 23, 2026) |
| English support | The official website is in Japanese only. Whether English is spoken at the shop has not been made public |