Who will enjoy this brewery
- People looking in Fushimi, Kyoto, for sake made from Kyoto Prefecture’s sake rice “Iwai (祝)”
- People who want to walk around Fushimi on a weekday and buy sake at the brewery’s head office (for brewery tours, enquire by phone)
- People who want to visit a Fushimi brewery on its lively open days in spring and autumn
About Saito Shuzo
Saito Shuzo (齊藤酒造株式会社) is a brewery in Yokooji (横大路), Fushimi Ward, Kyoto (京都市伏見区). It was founded in 1895 (Meiji 28). Its brand is “Eikun (英勲)”. The company name and the brand name are different, so please look for the name “Eikun” in stores.
At the brewery’s head office, you can buy sake during business hours on weekdays. For brewery tours, the brewery accepts enquiries by phone (checked on October 27, 2026).
From kimono-fabric merchant to sake brewery
Fushimi is a sake-producing area blessed with good water flowing underground. How the town and its water came to be is covered in our article on Gekkeikan, also in Fushimi.
The ancestors of the Saito family moved from Senshu (泉州, today’s southern Osaka Prefecture) to Fushimi around the end of the 17th century (around the Genroku era, 1688–1704), and ran a kimono-fabric merchant’s business under the name “Izutsuya Ihei (井筒屋伊兵衛)”. After keeping the shop going for 8 generations, the family turned to sake making in 1895.
The first trademarks were “柳正宗” and “大鷹”. To commemorate the enthronement ceremonies of Emperor Taisho (go-taiten), the brand was renamed “Eikun”. “Izutsuya Ihei” and “大鷹” still survive today in the names of products.
Made with Kyoto rice
Saito Shuzo is a brewery that has made sake with “Iwai (祝)”, a sake rice grown in Kyoto Prefecture.
Saga (嵯峨) in Ukyo Ward, Kyoto, is a rural district where development is strictly limited to protect the old capital’s landscape. In 1996 (Heisei 8), farmers in Saga began growing “Iwai” to preserve the scenery of the rice paddies. It was Saito Shuzo that took on the brewing of that “Iwai”. A society, “嵯峨酒づくりの会 (a society in Saga that grows Iwai rice and has it made into sake)”, was formed, recruiting members to experience rice planting and harvesting, and the junmai daiginjo made from the harvested “Iwai” was named “Gessho (月賞)”. The name comes from Heian-period nobles who poured sake while viewing the moon in Saga.
The main products are as follows. Ingredients and the rice polishing ratio differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type.
- Izutsuya Ihei 祝米三割五分磨き (a name referring to how far the Iwai rice is polished) — A “junmai daiginjo” made from “Iwai”. It is made only from rice, rice koji and water, with more than half of the outer part of the rice polished away
- Ichigin (一吟) — A junmai daiginjo made from “Yamada Nishiki”
- Koto Sennen (古都千年) — A series of junmai daiginjo, “junmai ginjo” and “junmai-shu”
- 大鷹 — A “tokubetsu junmai-shu” made only from rice, rice koji and water
Among the new products of April 2026 is a junmai daiginjo that uses only “Kyo no Kagayaki (京の輝き)”, a rice from Kyoto Prefecture, and for which the new sake was stored inside the brewery at 0°C or below.
Visiting the brewery
Buying at the head office
At the brewery’s head office, sake is sold during business hours. It is open Monday to Friday, 9:00–17:00, and closed on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays (checked on October 27, 2026). You can check closing days on the “business-day calendar” on the official website. The entrance faces Otesuji-dori (大手筋通り) on the north side.
The brewery-owned store “the Moromine Fushimi shop (醪音 伏見店)”, which was in central Fushimi, closed in December 2023.
For brewery tours, enquire by phone
About brewery tours, the brewery says “please enquire by phone (電話にてお問い合わせください)” (checked on October 27, 2026). The conditions, fees and times for accepting visitors have not been published, so if you would like to visit, please consult the brewery by phone (075-611-2124) in advance.
Brewery open days in spring and autumn
Every spring and autumn, the brewery holds a “kura-biraki (brewery open day, an event that opens the brewery to the public)”. The most recent was on October 24, 2026 (Saturday); admission was free and no booking was needed. The next dates are announced on the brewery’s blog (新商品・蔵元情報), linked from the official website.
Getting there
Address: 〒612-8207 京都府京都市伏見区横大路三栖山城屋敷町105
- By train: About 10 minutes on foot from Chushojima Station on the Keihan Main Line, and about 15 minutes from Fushimi-Momoyama Station. It is also about 15 minutes on foot from Momoyama-goryomae Station on the Kintetsu Kyoto Line
- By bus: Take Kyoto City Bus route 19 from in front of Kyoto Station to “Misu Koen-mae (三栖公園前)”, then walk about 2 minutes. On route 81 from the 八条口 exit of Kyoto Station, get off at “Nishi-Otesuji (西大手筋)” and walk about 5 minutes. Please check routes and times with the Kyoto City Transportation Bureau
Travel times are estimates (checked on October 27, 2026). Also in Yokooji is Kizakura’s visitor facility “Fushimigura (伏水蔵)” (our article on Kizakura).
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Saito Shuzo’s sake
The brewery does not publish a list of stockists (checked on October 27, 2026). The places where travellers can be sure of buying its sake are the following.
| Place | Details |
|---|---|
| The brewery’s head office | Fushimi Ward, Kyoto. Monday–Friday 9:00–17:00 (closed Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays) |
| The Eikun web shop | The brewery’s official online shop. https://moromine.shop-pro.jp/ |
| The brewery’s Yahoo! Shopping store | An online store that the brewery points to on its official website. https://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/eikun/ |
Please check with each shop where it delivers and whether it ships abroad.
Before you buy
- Seasonal and limited products may not be available, depending on the time of year.
- 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 Kyoto Prefecture are gathered on our Kyoto Prefecture page.
Brewery facts
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Brewery | 齊藤酒造株式会社 (Saito Shuzo) |
| Founded | 1895 (Meiji 28) |
| Representative | Representative director 齊藤洸 |
| Address | 〒612-8207 京都府京都市伏見区横大路三栖山城屋敷町105 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 075-611-2124 (fax 075-602-8331). Monday–Friday 9:00–17:00 |
| Main brand | Eikun (英勲) |
| Official website | https://www.eikun.com/ |
| Brewery tours | Enquire by phone (conditions have not been published; checked on October 27, 2026) |
| Sales at the brewery | Sold at the head office (Monday–Friday 9:00–17:00, closed Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays) |
| Brewery open days | Every spring and autumn (most recently October 24, 2026) |
| List of stockists | Not published (checked on October 27, 2026) |
| English support | The English page does not open (checked on October 27, 2026) |