Who will enjoy this brewery
- People traveling in Sendai who want to buy local sake at Sendai Station, at department stores or at a shop in Sendai Airport (there are no brewery tours and no sales at the brewery)
- People who want to try sake with a clear rice umami, served chilled in a wine glass
- People who want to drink sake from a brewery connected with the history of the Date clan of the Sendai Domain
About Katsuyama Shuzo
Katsuyama Shuzo (勝山酒造) is a brewery in the Fukuoka (福岡) district of Izumi-ku, Sendai (仙台市泉区), Miyagi Prefecture (a district of Sendai, not Fukuoka Prefecture). It began making sake in the castle town of Sendai in 1688, and in the Edo period it supplied sake to the Date clan, lords of the Sendai Domain. The brewery is run by the Izawa (伊澤) family. Its brand is “Katsuyama (勝山)”.
Katsuyama Shuzo offers neither brewery tours nor sales at the brewery (checked on October 29, 2026). You can buy Katsuyama at the shops on the list of stockists published by the brewery, and from the brewery’s official online shop.
Water from the foot of Izumigatake
The brewery stands about 20 km northwest of central Sendai, at the foot of Izumigatake (泉ヶ岳), 1,175 m high. Izumigatake is one of the peaks of the Funagata Mountains (船形連峰), which run along the west of Miyagi Prefecture. Rice fields spread around the brewery.
Katsuyama’s brewing water is underground water (water that flows beneath the ground) that has passed through the layers of Izumigatake over many years. It is soft water rich in silica (silicon).
The name “Katsuyama”
The Izawa family ran a sake shop that brewed and sold its own sake in the castle town of Sendai. In the latter half of the Edo period, the Izawa family sent a toji of the “Nanbu toji (南部杜氏)” school, a school of toji from Iwate Prefecture, to Nada (灘, today’s Hyogo Prefecture), then a famous sake-producing area, to learn, and adopted that way of brewing. A toji is the person in charge of sake making. Around that time, the family changed its earlier brand name “加寿山” to “Katsuyama”, and made it the name of the sake it supplied to the Date clan.
“Katsuyama” comes from the posthumous Buddhist name (kaimyo) given to 伊澤家廣, a warrior of the family in the Kamakura period. It means “to win greatly, like a towering mountain”, and was a word of good fortune for samurai.
One tank a week
Katsuyama Shuzo brews only one tank a week. All the rice is washed and soaked with the time it absorbs water carefully measured. For the rice koji, the rice grains are carefully broken up over about 5 hours in the koji-muro (the room for making koji, kept warm).
The method of pressing the moromi (fermenting mash) also differs from product to product. Besides products in which the moromi is packed into bags, laid in a pressing box called a “fune (槽)”, and pressed slowly over three days, there are also products pressed by “centrifuge (遠心分離)”, which spins the moromi at high speed to separate out the sake.
Three Katsuyama sakes
The brewery recommends drinking Katsuyama chilled, in a wine glass. For nurukan (warmed sake), or sake that has been warmed and allowed to cool, it suggests drinking from a small cup called an “ochoko (猪口)”.
- Katsuyama Ken (勝山 献) — A “junmai ginjo”: made only from rice, rice koji and water, with 40% or more of the outer part of the rice polished away, and fermented slowly at a low temperature. It uses only the sake rice (rice suited to sake making) “Yamada Nishiki”, and the moromi is pressed in a fune. The brewery describes it as a sake to go with meals, with an elegant aroma in harmony with the umami of the rice. It recommends pairing it with lightly flavored dishes and seafood. 3,025 yen (tax included) for 720 ml
- Katsuyama Akatsuki (勝山 暁) — A “junmai daiginjo”: made only from rice, rice koji and water, with half or more of the outer part of the rice polished away. Yamada Nishiki from Hyogo Prefecture is polished until 65% of the outer grain is removed (a rice polishing ratio of 35%), and the sake is pressed by centrifuge. This product should be kept in the refrigerator. 13,156 yen (tax included) for 720 ml
- Katsuyama KIRA KIRA (勝山 KIRA KIRA) — A junmai ginjo made only from “Niji no Kirameki (にじのきらめき)”, a rice grown in Miyagi Prefecture. It is 13% alcohol, lower than ordinary sake. The brewery describes it as having a faint, melon-like aroma and a gentle sweetness
Prices are those shown on the official online shop (checked on October 29, 2026). The rice and the rice polishing ratio differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type.
Visiting the brewery
No brewery tours and no sales at the brewery
Katsuyama Shuzo offers neither brewery tours nor sales at the brewery (checked on October 29, 2026). Even if you visit the brewery, you cannot buy sake there. To buy Katsuyama, please use the shops in “Where to buy Katsuyama Shuzo’s sake” below, or the official online shop.
Arrangements for tours and sales may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Katsuyama Shuzo’s sake
The brewery publishes a list of stockists (SHOP LIST) on its official website. It includes shops from Hokkaido to Okinawa. The main shops that are easy for travelers to visit are below (checked on October 29, 2026; some shops are not listed here).
| Area | Shop | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Sendai | むとう屋 仙台駅店 | 仙台市青葉区 (1F of JR Sendai Station) |
| Sendai | 藤崎 (department store) | 仙台市青葉区一番町 |
| Sendai | 三越 仙台店 (department store) | 仙台市青葉区一番町 |
| Sendai | 阿部八酒店 | 仙台市青葉区宮町 |
| Sendai Airport | 地酒や華の蔵 仙台空港店 | 宮城県名取市 |
| Matsushima | むとう屋 | 宮城県宮城郡松島町 |
| Tokyo | はせがわ酒店 GranSta店 | 東京都千代田区 (B1 inside JR Tokyo Station) |
| Tokyo | はせがわ酒店 東京スカイツリータウン・ソラマチ店 | 東京都墨田区 |
| Tokyo | 伊勢丹 新宿本店 (department store) | 東京都新宿区 |
| Tokyo | 高島屋 日本橋店 (department store) | 東京都中央区 |
| Tokyo | 宮城ふるさとプラザ (Miyagi Prefecture’s showcase shop) | 東京都中央区日本橋茅場町 |
| Osaka | 日本酒店 エディオンなんば本店 | 大阪市中央区 (6F of エディオンなんば本店) |
| Kyoto | 名酒館タキモト | 京都市下京区 |
Each shop stocks different products, and stock changes. Limited products may not be available, so please check with the shop.
You can also order from the brewery’s official online shop. Shipping to Honshu is free on orders of 8,800 yen or more (checked on October 29, 2026).
Before you buy
- Some products, like Akatsuki, should be kept in the refrigerator. The brewery asks you to finish them soon after opening.
- 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 | 勝山酒造株式会社 (Katsuyama Shuzo) |
| Founded | 1688 (the 1st year of the Genroku era) |
| Address | 〒981-3225 宮城県仙台市泉区福岡字二又25番地1号 Open in Google Maps |
| Main brand | Katsuyama (勝山) |
| Official website | https://www.katsu-yama.com/ |
| Brewery tours | Not offered (checked on October 29, 2026) |
| Brewery shop | None. No sales at the brewery (checked on October 29, 2026) |
| List of stockists | SHOP LIST on the official website |
| Online sales | Official online shop https://www.katsuyama-shop.jp/ |
| English support | The official website has an English page |