Who will enjoy this brewery
- People interested in the story of a brewery that once stopped and then started making sake again with a new brand
- People who want to compare Nagano Prefecture’s sake rices “Hitogokochi (ひとごこち)” and “Sankei Nishiki (山恵錦)” in a form that tells you even the name of the rice-field area
- People who want to look for Nagano sake at liquor stores in Ueda, Matsumoto or Tokyo (the brewery does not sell at the brewery)
About Yamasan Shuzo
Yamasan Shuzo (山三酒造) is a brewery in Ueda, Nagano Prefecture. It was founded in 1867. It stopped making sake in 2015, but started again in February 2023.
It has two brands: “Sanada Rokumonsen (真田六文銭)”, inherited from the previous generation, and the new brand “Yamasan (山三)”, named after the brewery. The name Sanada Rokumonsen is taken from the name of the family crest of the Sanada family of Ueda in Shinshu.
The official website has no information about brewery tours. The brewery does not sell sake at the brewery; you buy it at its stockists (checked on October 29, 2026).
Mountain water, and rice fields 8 km to the east
For brewing, the brewery uses underground water from the snowmelt of 獨鈷山 that has filtered through the earth over a long time. It is soft water.
Most of the rice comes from Yaehara (八重原) in Tomi (東御市), about 8 km east of the brewery. Yaehara is land at about 700 m above sea level, with clay soil and large day-night temperature swings. The brewery uses sake rice (rice suited to making sake) grown here by a grower called 太陽と大地 (the name means “Sun and Earth”). The product descriptions give the names of rice-field areas: Yaehara, as well as 武石 and 西内 in Ueda.
Only genshu, with no water added
Yamasan Shuzo brews in the ginjo style in small batches, and releases all of its products as “genshu”, sake with no water added after pressing. Many of its products are “muroka”, which means unfiltered.
Yamasan’s products are named after the variety of rice and how far the rice has been polished. For example, “Junmai Ginjo Hitogokochi 五割五分 (55%)” is 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; its Hitogokochi is polished to a rice polishing ratio of 55%. Hitogokochi is introduced in Hitogokochi.
- Sankei Nishiki, Hitogokochi and Kinmon Nishiki (金紋錦) — sake rices grown in Nagano Prefecture. “Junmai Daiginjo Kinmon Nishiki 三割五分 (35%)” is a “junmai daiginjo” made only from rice, rice koji and water, with half or more of the outer part of the rice polished away; its Kinmon Nishiki from Yaehara is polished to a rice polishing ratio of 35%
- Aiyama (愛山) and Yamada Nishiki (山田錦) — there are also products using rice from Hyogo Prefecture
- Namazake and sparkling — there are also namazake that has not been through “hiire”, the heating that sterilizes it, “usu-nigori”, which is lightly cloudy, and sparkling products with bubbles
The brewery describes its sake as having the aroma of rice, a classic sake character and a clean taste.
Sanada Rokumonsen is made by “kimoto”
Sanada Rokumonsen, the brand inherited from the previous generation, is now made by the traditional “kimoto” method, in which lactic acid bacteria are grown and the base for fermentation (the shubo, or yeast starter) is made while their lactic acid protects it from unwanted bacteria. Two products are currently available: one made with “Kamenoo (亀の尾)”, naturally farmed rice from 立科町 in Nagano Prefecture, polished to a rice polishing ratio of 60%, and “Junmai Ginjo Hitogokochi 五割五分 (55%)”, made with Hitogokochi from Yaehara (checked on October 29, 2026).
The rice and the rice polishing ratio differ from product to product and change from year to year. Please check the label for the type.
Visiting the brewery
No brewery tours or direct sales
Yamasan Shuzo’s official website has no information about brewery tours. The brewery does not sell sake at the brewery (checked on October 29, 2026). The brewery says, “We do not sell sake at our brewery” (「当蔵ではお酒の販売はしておりません」), and directs people to buy from its stockists. The brewery takes phone calls on weekdays 9:00–12:00.
The “online store” on the brewery’s official website is a shop for goods such as the brewery workers’ work clothes, and does not carry sake (checked on October 29, 2026).
Where to buy Yamasan Shuzo’s sake
The brewery lists its stockists on its official website. There are 47 locations, counting branches separately, in 22 prefectures including Nagano (checked on October 29, 2026). Here are stores that are easy to stop by during a trip. Please check all the stores on the list of stockists on the official website.
| Area | Store | Address | Store website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ueda | 地酒屋 宮島 | 長野県上田市真田町長 | mssakaya.com |
| Ueda | 酒 栄屋 鹿教湯店／別所店 | 長野県上田市鹿教湯温泉／別所温泉 | — |
| Ueda | 酒の原商店 | 長野県上田市上塩尻 | hara-igeta.jp |
| Tomi | 坐kura | 長野県東御市八重原 | thekura.jp |
| Nagano City | 地酒専門 ハトヤ酒店 | 長野県長野市高田 | kikizake.com |
| Matsumoto | 三代澤酒店 | 長野県松本市大手 | miyosawa.co.jp |
| Tokyo | 地酒専門店 鈴傳 | 東京都新宿区四谷 | suzuden-sake.com |
| Tokyo | ふくはら商店 | 東京都台東区台東 | fukuharasaketen.com |
| Tokyo | 伊勢五本店 千駄木店／中目黒店 | 東京都文京区千駄木／目黒区青葉台 | isego.net |
| Tokyo | 味ノマチダヤ | 東京都中野区上高田 | ajinomachidaya.com |
| Kyoto City | 名酒館タキモト | 京都府京都市下京区 | meishukan-takimoto.com |
| Osaka | 白菊屋 | 大阪府高槻市柳川町 | shiragikuya.com |
There are also stores in Saku, 千曲市, Azumino, 伊那市, 飯田市 and other places in Nagano Prefecture, and in Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, Kinki, Hiroshima and Fukuoka.
Before you buy
- Namazake, sparkling and usu-nigori are seasonal products. What each store carries and its stock differ, so please ask the store.
- 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 Nagano Prefecture are gathered on our Nagano Prefecture page.
Brewery facts
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Brewery | 山三酒造株式会社 (Yamasan Shuzo) |
| Founded | 1867 (dormant from 2015; started making sake again in February 2023) |
| Address | 〒386-0412 長野県上田市御嶽堂687-1 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0268-42-2260 (calls taken on weekdays 9:00–12:00; fax 0268-42-3884) |
| Main brands | Yamasan (山三), Sanada Rokumonsen (真田六文銭) |
| Official website | https://yamasan-sake.jp/ |
| Brewery tours | No information on the official website (checked on October 29, 2026) |
| Direct sales | None. Sold through stockists (checked on October 29, 2026) |
| List of stockists | On the official website (22 prefectures, 47 locations; checked on October 29, 2026) |