Who will enjoy this brewery
- People staying in Nagoya who want to look from the outside at a townscape of old sake breweries within the city (Banjo Jozo does not accept brewery tours)
- People who want to choose sake by differences in where the sake rice (rice suited to making sake) was grown and the year it was harvested
- People who are used to drinking wine and are interested in sake with acidity
About Banjo Jozo
Banjo Jozo (萬乗醸造) is a sake brewery in a town called Odaka (大高) in Midori Ward (緑区), Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. It has been making sake since 1647. Its brand is “Kamoshibito Kuheiji (醸し人九平次)”.
The brewery does not accept brewery tours. It does not sell directly at the brewery either (checked on September 30, 2026). Kamoshibito Kuheiji is sold at stockists and through the brewery’s official online shop.
Besides sake, the brewery grows sake rice in Kurodasho (黒田庄), Hyogo Prefecture, and in Okayama Prefecture, and also makes wine in the Burgundy region of France.
Odaka, a town where sake breweries remain
Odaka is an old town in Midori Ward, Nagoya. In the Edo period, sake breweries increased under a system of 株 (licenses to operate) for making sake, and in the 18th year of the Meiji era (1885) there were 9 sake breweries. Today, 3 sake breweries remain, including Banjo Jozo.
Banjo Jozo’s buildings, such as the main house (母屋), the storehouses where sake is brewed and the wells, became national Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (historic buildings that the national government registers for their preservation and use) in 2007. The main house, which faces the street, is a two-story wooden building with walls finished in black plaster. To the south of the brewery grounds there are also 6 wells (outdoor wells).
Odaka also has Hikami Anego Jinja (氷上姉子神社), a 摂社 (a shrine closely related to the main shrine) of Atsuta Jingu (熱田神宮), and the site of Odaka Castle (大高城跡), which became a national historic site in 1938. Within the grounds of Hikami Anego Jinja there is a 末社 (a small shrine) that enshrines the god of medicine and of sake making.
Sake that starts in the rice fields
The name “九平治” is inherited by each successive head of the family. Kamoshibito Kuheiji is a brand created by the 15th-generation head, who set out to create new value for sake. Kamoshibito Kuheiji was unveiled in Paris and introduced to French chefs and sommeliers.
The first thing those chefs and sommeliers asked about was the rice. The brewery felt uneasy that it did not grow its own rice, and in 2010 it began growing Yamada Nishiki (山田錦) in Kurodasho, Hyogo Prefecture. Since 2014 it has also grown Omachi (雄町) in Akaiwa (赤磐), Okayama Prefecture. Brewery staff have moved to Akaiwa and grow rice together with a full-time Omachi farmer.
The brewery set up a new brewery, “Domaine Kurodashō”, in the middle of its own rice fields in Kurodasho. It is a brewery that aims to connect the rice fields and the brewery directly.
The brewery believes that even rice of the same variety differs in character from field to field and from harvest year to harvest year. For that reason, Kamoshibito Kuheiji products show the year the rice was harvested (the vintage).
Kamoshibito Kuheiji, with acidity as its backbone
Kamoshibito Kuheiji deliberately values bitterness, astringency and acidity. Among these, the brewery describes acidity like this.
Above all, “acidity” is, if we compare it to a person, the “backbone”. 中でも「酸」は、人間に例えるなら「背骨」です。 ——From “Kamoshibito Kuheiji” (醸し人九平次) on the Banjo Jozo official website
What the brewery seeks is a flavor like ripe fruit, together with elegance, gentleness and a sense of nostalgia.
Here are some products from the brewery’s official online shop that use different rice. Prices are as shown in the shop (checked on September 30, 2026). The rice polishing ratio (seimai buai) is the share of the rice that remains after polishing.
- Kamoshibito Kuheiji human — Uses Yamada Nishiki from Hyogo Prefecture. 3,300 yen for 720 ml
- Kamoshibito Kuheiji Kanochi (彼の地) — Uses Yamada Nishiki from Hyogo Prefecture, with a rice polishing ratio of 40% (60% of the outer part of the rice has been polished away). 4,400 yen for 720 ml. The brewery recommends storing it at 5°C
- Kamoshibito Kuheiji Kyoden (協田) — Uses Omachi grown by the brewery in Okayama Prefecture, with a rice polishing ratio of 40%. 5,500 yen for 720 ml
- Kamoshibito Kuheiji Hinokishi (彼の岸) — A product the brewery calls its “flagship”. It uses only Yamada Nishiki from Kurodasho, and the only water used is natural water that the brewery draws in the mountains of northeastern Aichi Prefecture (at an altitude of 700 m). 16,500 yen for 720 ml
Kamoshibito Kuheiji has many other products as well. The rice and brewing methods differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type.
Wine from Burgundy
Since 2016, the brewery has been making wine in the Burgundy region of France as “DOMAINE KUHEIJI”. The winery is in Morey-Saint-Denis, and its first wine was released in April 2020. There is also a sake, “カマルグに生まれて、”, made with rice grown in the Camargue, France.
Visiting the brewery
Banjo Jozo does not accept brewery tours. It does not sell directly at the brewery either (checked on September 30, 2026).
Because the main house faces the street, you can see its exterior while walking around the town. Please do not enter the brewery grounds.
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Banjo Jozo’s sake
Banjo Jozo does not publish a list of stockists (checked on September 30, 2026). If you want to know a stockist near you, send the region you want and how you would like to buy through the brewery’s inquiry form, and the brewery will introduce one. There is also an English inquiry form.
The brewery also has an official online shop, “LA CAVE de Kuheiji”. It delivers within Japan only, and orders for delivery abroad are canceled (checked on September 30, 2026). From April to November, items are sent by refrigerated delivery. Some products are limited to 2 bottles per person.
Before you buy
- Whether a store carries the sake, and its stock, differ from store to store. Because this is a small brewery, some products sell out. Please check with the store before visiting.
- Kamoshibito Kuheiji has many products, and the rice and brewing methods differ from product to product. Please check the label for the type and the harvest year of the rice.
- 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
Brewery facts
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Brewery | 株式会社萬乗醸造 (Banjo Jozo Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1647 |
| Address | 〒459-8001 愛知県名古屋市緑区大高町字西門田41番地 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 052-621-2185 |
| Main brand | Kamoshibito Kuheiji (醸し人九平次) |
| Official website | https://kuheiji.co.jp/ (has English, French and Chinese pages) |
| Brewery tours | Not available |
| Sales at the brewery | None |
| List of stockists | Not published. Stockists are introduced on inquiry (checked on September 30, 2026) |
| Official online shop | Yes (delivery within Japan only) |
| English support | The official website has English pages and an English inquiry form |