Who will enjoy this brewery
- People who want to walk through an old townscape that prospered as a port town on the Sea of Japan side of Akita Prefecture
- People who want to get to know sake, and fermented foods such as sake lees (sake kasu) and amazake (a sweet rice drink), at the brewery’s own shop and café
- People who are interested in “yamahai” sake, which draws on the power of natural lactic acid bacteria
- People who are not making a tour inside the brewery the purpose of their trip (please ask the brewery before visiting whether it accepts brewery tours)
About Saiya Shuzoten
Saiya Shuzoten (齋彌酒造店) is a brewery in the Ishiwaki (石脇) district of Yurihonjo (由利本荘市), Akita Prefecture. Its main brands are “Yuki no Bosha (雪の茅舎)” and “Yuri Masamune (由利正宗)”.
It was founded in 1902 by the first generation, 齋藤彌太郎. Eleven buildings that remain from around the time of its founding, including the residence, the shop and the storehouses, are registered as national Registered Tangible Cultural Properties.
Also in the Ishiwaki district is “Hakko Koji Taya (発酵小路 田屋)”, run by Saiya Shuzoten. It is a facility where you can buy sake and have a meal at its café. The brewery’s official website gives no information on whether you can tour inside the brewery (checked on September 30, 2026; see “Visiting the brewery” below).
Ishiwaki, a port town of the kitamae-bune ships
Ishiwaki is a district that prospered in the Edo period as a distribution hub of the Kameda Domain (亀田藩). Rice and timber gathered by bringing them down the Koyoshi River (子吉川) were loaded at Ishiwaki’s port onto kitamae-bune (merchant ships that sailed around the Sea of Japan) and carried to Osaka and Edo (today’s Tokyo). Even today, the district is lined with shops that make and sell Yurihonjo’s local specialties. Every year in mid-January, the traditional event “Shinzan Jinja Hadaka Mairi (新山神社裸参り)” is held.
On the grounds of Saiya Shuzoten, the water used for brewing springs from the ground.
The “nobori-gura”, where rice becomes sake as it moves down the slope
Saiya Shuzoten’s brewery has stood on a slope since around the time of its founding. The difference in height across the grounds is about 6 meters. The rice is first carried to the rice polishing room at the very top. From there, the rice moves downward as the sake making steps progress. It is a layout in which rice that has gone up comes back down as sake.
This layout has been named “nobori-gura” (のぼり蔵, the “climbing brewery”). It was named by Dr. 小泉武夫, a professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture, because the brewery resembles a “nobori-gama” (登り窯), a climbing kiln for firing pottery.
Yeast raised at the brewery, and yamahai
Saiya Shuzoten makes its sake with the idea that “sake is brewed not by people but by microorganisms”. For this reason, it does not sterilize the inside of the brewery with chemicals; instead, it cleans everything down to the ceiling and beams to keep the microorganisms living in the brewery in balance. As its policies for sake making, it lists not doing “kai-ire” (櫂入れ; stirring the moromi, the fermenting base of the sake, with a pole), not filtering, and not adding water.
For more than 30 years, the brewery has worked on culturing its own yeast (a microorganism that drives fermentation), and it uses yeast that it has kept selecting over many years. For sake rice (rice suited to making sake), the kurabito (brewery workers) and local farmers grow Akita Sake Komachi (秋田酒こまち), and contract farmers in Kurodasho (黒田庄), Nishiwaki, Hyogo Prefecture, grow Yamada Nishiki (山田錦).
The toji (the person responsible for sake making) is 高橋藤一. He revived “yamahai”. Yamahai is a way of raising the “shubo” (yeast starter), the base for the sake’s fermentation, without adding lactic acid, drawing instead on the work of natural lactic acid bacteria. It takes time and effort.
Here are some representative products.
- Yuki no Bosha Hiden Yamahai Yamahai Junmai Ginjo (秘伝山廃 山廃純米吟醸) — 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), brewed with the yamahai method
- Yuki no Bosha Yamahai Junmai — A “junmai-shu”, made only from rice, rice koji and water, brewed with the yamahai method. It is offered as a product that is also suited to kan (warming sake) for drinking warm
- Yuki no Bosha Yamahai Junmai Daiginjo — A “junmai daiginjo”: made only from rice, rice koji and water, with more than half of the outer part of the rice polished away. It uses Yamada Nishiki from Kurodasho, and it is a genshu (undiluted sake) that has been neither filtered nor diluted with water
“Yuki no Bosha” has many other products as well. The ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type.
Saiya Shuzoten’s “Yuki no Bosha” received a gold award at the Zenkoku Shinshu Kanpyokai (National New Sake Competition) for the Reiwa 7 brewing year (organized by the National Research Institute of Brewing and the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association; announced on May 20, 2026).
Visiting the brewery
The brewery’s official website gives no information on whether you can tour inside the brewery (checked on September 30, 2026). Whether it accepts visitors may have changed over time, so if you would like a tour, please call the brewery before visiting (0184-22-0536, weekdays 8:00–17:00).
The place travelers can drop in at is “Hakko Koji Taya”, run by the brewery.
| Hakko Koji Taya (checked on September 30, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Address | 秋田県由利本荘市石脇字石脇279-1 Open in Google Maps |
| Opening hours | 10:00–17:00 |
| Closed | Every Thursday and Sunday. There are also temporary closures |
| Shop | “Yuki no Bosha” sake; the brewery’s sake lees, amazake and narazuke (vegetables pickled in sake lees); Ishiwaki’s miso and soy sauce; Honjo udon noodles; and more |
| Café | Bread made with the brewery’s brewing water, desserts made with sake lees, and more. Reservations are not accepted |
| Phone | 0184-74-8207 |
| English support | Not published |
Notices of temporary closures are posted on Taya’s official website. Please check before visiting.
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Saiya Shuzoten’s sake
Saiya Shuzoten does not publish a list of stockists or authorized retailers (tokuyakuten) (checked on September 30, 2026). The brewery advises buying at a nearby liquor store. It does not ship retail orders from the brewery.
If you would like sake shipped, the contact is the brewery-owned store “Hakko Koji Taya” (phone 0184-74-8207, 10:00–17:00, closed on Thursdays and Sundays).
Before you buy
- “Yuki no Bosha” includes several products, and the ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product. Please check the label for the type.
- Whether a store carries the sake, and its stock, differ from store to store. Seasonal products (such as namazake, hiyaoroshi and new-season sake) change with the time of year.
- At the Taya shop, too, some products sell out depending on the season.
- 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 |
|---|---|
| Company | 株式会社齋彌酒造店 (SAIYA SYUZOTEN Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1902 (the 35th year of the Meiji era) |
| Representative | 齋藤浩太郎 |
| Address | 〒015-0011 秋田県由利本荘市石脇字石脇53 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0184-22-0536 (weekdays 8:00–17:00) / fax 0184-24-4558 |
| Main brands | Yuki no Bosha (雪の茅舎) / Yuri Masamune (由利正宗) |
| Toji | 高橋藤一 |
| Official website | https://www.yukinobosha.jp/ |
| Brewery tours | No official information. If you would like a tour, ask by phone |
| Brewery-owned store | Hakko Koji Taya (shop and café; 10:00–17:00, closed on Thursdays and Sundays) |
| List of stockists | Not published (checked on September 30, 2026) |
| English support | Not published |