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秋田県

Akita

Rice fields and Mount Chokai in Yashima, Yurihonjo. Beyond a paddy of golden, ripening rice stand houses and a cedar grove, with the cloud-capped peak of Mount Chokai rising behind them
Rice fields in Yashima Town, Yurihonjo City, and Mount Chokai. Beyond the ripening rice, the mountain's peak comes into view.Douglaspperkins ／ Public domain ／ Wikimedia Commons（resized to 1280 px on the long side）

Sake in Akita

Akita Prefecture lies in northern Honshu, spreading out around latitude 40 degrees north. The Akita Sake Brewers Association has 33 member companies (as of July 2026). The amount of sake made in the prefecture ranks 5th in Japan by prefecture (for the one year from July 2024 to June 2025).

The Ou Mountains and the Dewa Hills, which run north to south, divide the prefecture into coastal areas and inland basins. In winter the northwest seasonal wind brings intense cold, and sake brewing reaches its peak from December to February, the coldest time of year. Inside breweries buried in snow, the room temperature does not change much, and the moromi (the fermenting mash that becomes sake) ferments slowly over a long time at low temperatures. The water used for brewing is generally soft water.

As for rice, Akita Prefecture developed “Akita Sake Komachi,” a rice variety suited to sake brewing (shuzo kotekimai), which was registered as a variety in 2004. All Akita Sake Komachi from the 2024 crop was grown in Akita Prefecture. As for yeast (the microorganism that carries out fermentation), a yeast isolated in 1930 from a sake brewery in Akita City was adopted by the Brewing Society of Japan as “Kyokai No. 6.” In 1990, “Akita Flower Yeast (AK-1)” was born from joint research by Akita Prefecture and the prefecture's sake brewers association. “Sakagura Kaiho,” which opens sake breweries to the public, is organized at the call of the prefecture's sake brewers association, and in fiscal 2025 it was held for the 47th time.

Brewery map

Daisen: 9 breweriesYuzawa: 6 breweriesAkita: 5 breweriesYokote: 5 breweriesYurihonjo: 4 breweriesMisato: 3 breweriesOdate: 2 breweriesNoshiro: 1 breweriesKatagami: 1 breweriesKazuno: 1 breweriesNikaho: 1 breweriesGojome: 1 breweriesHappo: 1 breweriesDaisenYokoteMisato1. 齋彌酒造店12. 新政酒造23. 両関酒造3

Breweries by municipality (dot size shows the number of breweries)Featured breweries

  1. Saiya Shuzoten 齋彌酒造店Yurihonjo
  2. Aramasa Shuzo 新政酒造Akita
  3. Ryozeki Shuzo 両関酒造Yuzawa

The 40 breweries on our list are grouped by the municipality where they are located. Each dot marks a representative point of the municipality, not the brewery itself (featured breweries are shown at their actual locations). Locations are based on the address search of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan.

Featured breweries