Who will enjoy this brewery
- People staying in Fukuoka city or Kurume who are looking for a sake brewery shop they can reach by train (brewery tours and tastings are not offered)
- People who want to try sake drunk warm
- People who want to choose limited seasonal sake to match the time of their trip
- People who can visit Kurume on the day of the brewery open day
About Yamaguchi Shuzojo
Yamaguchi Shuzojo (山口酒造場) is a sake brewery in Kitano, Kurume (久留米市北野町), Fukuoka Prefecture, and it makes the brand “Niwa no Uguisu (庭のうぐいす)”. It was founded in 1832. On October 1, 2022, it changed from a general partnership (gomei kaisha) to a stock company (kabushiki kaisha).
Brewery tours and tastings are not offered (checked on September 30, 2026). What travelers can visit is the shop “uguisubar” at the entrance of the main house.
The brewery is on the middle reaches of the Chikugo River (筑後川), one of Kyushu’s large rivers. The area around the brewery is flat land called the Chikugo Plain (筑後平野). It is about an hour from central Fukuoka city by Nishitetsu train.
The bush warbler of the Tenjin shrine, and the brewery’s well
Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (北野天満宮) is in the same town of Kitano as the brewery. Both are a few minutes’ walk from Kitano Station on the Nishitetsu line. Kitano Tenmangu began in 1054, when a divided spirit of Sugawara no Michizane (菅原道真) was enshrined here from Kitano Tenmangu in Kyoto.
The brand name “Niwa no Uguisu” (“the bush warbler in the garden”) comes from the sight of an uguisu (a bush warbler, a kind of small bird) flying from this Kitano Tenmangu into the brewery’s garden and quenching its thirst at the spring water. On the south side of the brewery, there is a well dug in the Edo period.
The Yamaguchi family were originally merchants dealing in secondhand goods, rice, oil and other goods, and in 1832 they received permission for a sake brewing business from the Arima Domain of Kurume. The current head, Yamaguchi Tetsuo (山口哲生), is the eleventh generation. On August 19, 2026, too, the brewery invited the chief priest of Kitano Tenmangu to hold a “jozo kigan” (醸造祈願), a prayer for the start of that year’s sake making.
Passing on sake drunk warm to the present day
In the latter part of the Showa era, Yamaguchi Shuzojo gave up large-scale equipment and switched to brewing centered on junmai-shu. Junmai-shu is sake made only from rice, rice koji and water. Kan means drinking sake warmed. The tenth generation, Yamaguchi Hisanori (山口尚則), held up the phrase “delicious junmai-shu, served nurukan” (「美味しい純米酒をぬる燗で」) and expanded sales, mainly in Tokyo (from the introduction of successive heads on Yamaguchi Shuzojo’s official website). “Nurukan” is sake warmed without making it too hot.
This idea remains in today’s products.
- Niwa no Uguisu Daruma Label Tokubetsu Junmai-shu (だるまラベル 特別純米酒) — A “tokubetsu junmai-shu”, made only from rice, rice koji and water, with 40% or more of the outer part of the rice polished away. It is aged for 1–2 years, and it is a bottle the brewery recommends drinking warm
- Niwa no Uguisu Junmai Ginjo Nuruhada (ぬるはだ) — 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 was named from the wish that people would drink it slightly warmed
- Niwa no Uguisu Tokubetsu Junmai — A standard bottle. With this product, the brewery aims for “a sake that makes you want another glass” (「お替りしたくなる酒」) (from the product introduction on Yamaguchi Shuzojo’s official website)
“Niwa no Uguisu” has many other products as well. Some products are released only in certain seasons, such as new sake released in winter, “Natsugakoi (なつがこい)” in summer, and “hiyaoroshi” and “Akiagari (あきあがり)” in autumn. The ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type.
The brewery has also worked on growing sake rice without pesticides and by organic methods. There are also products named after the grower of the rice, such as “北嶋山田錦80”, which uses only Yamada Nishiki (山田錦) grown by 北嶋将治, a farmer in Asakura (朝倉市), Fukuoka Prefecture.
Yamaguchi Shuzojo’s “Niwa no Uguisu” was among the prize-winning sakes 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
Yamaguchi Shuzojo does not offer brewery tours or tastings (checked on September 30, 2026). You can visit only the shop.
The shop “uguisubar”
| Checked on September 30, 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Location | The entrance of the brewery’s main house (the retail shop is run by 株式会社1020) |
| Opening hours | 9:00–17:00. Also open on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays |
| Closed | The New Year holidays, the early-May holidays (Golden Week) and mid-August (Obon). In 2026, it was closed from May 3 to 6 and from August 11 to 16 |
| Items sold | Yamaguchi Shuzojo’s products |
Brewery open day
The brewery holds the “Niwa no Uguisu Sakagura Biraki” (brewery open day). The most recent one was held on April 18 and 19, 2026 (10:00–16:00), and anyone could enter. Please check the news on the brewery’s official website for the next dates.
Getting there
Address: 〒830-1122 福岡県久留米市北野町今山534番地1
- Nishitetsu train: About a 4-minute walk from Kitano Station on the Nishitetsu Amagi Line. From Nishitetsu Fukuoka (Tenjin) Station, it is about 30 minutes by limited express to Nishitetsu Kurume Station, then about 17 minutes on the Amagi Line to Kitano Station (daytime trains)
- JR: About 15 minutes by taxi from Tosu Station
- By car: About 10 minutes from either the Kurume Interchange on the Kyushu Expressway or the Chikugo-Ogori Interchange on the Oita Expressway
Travel times are estimates as of September 2026. Please check train times on the Nishitetsu Railway official website. It is safest to check the last trains for both the outward and return journeys. If you go by car, please take care not to drink and drive.
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Yamaguchi Shuzojo’s sake
Besides the brewery shop “uguisubar”, liquor stores across Japan sell “Niwa no Uguisu”. The brewery publishes some of its stockists on the stockists page of its official website. We have chosen stores that are easy to drop in at during a trip (checked on September 30, 2026).
| Area | Store | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Kurume | IZUMIYA | 福岡県久留米市六ツ門町6-38 Open in Google Maps |
| Hakata Station | 住吉酒販 博多駅店 | 福岡県福岡市博多区博多駅中央街1-1 JR博多駅 博多デイトス1階 Open in Google Maps |
| Fukuoka city | 住吉酒販 本店 | 福岡県福岡市博多区住吉3-8-27 Open in Google Maps |
| Fukuoka city | とどろき酒店 三筑本店 | 福岡県福岡市博多区三筑2-2-31 Open in Google Maps |
| Tokyo Station | はせがわ酒店 GranSta東京店 | 東京都千代田区丸の内1-9-1 JR東日本 東京駅構内 地下1階 Open in Google Maps |
| Ginza | IMADEYA GINZA | 東京都中央区銀座6-10-1 GINZA SIX 地下2階 Open in Google Maps |
| Ginza | 銀座君嶋屋 | 東京都中央区銀座1-2-1 紺屋ビル1階 Open in Google Maps |
| Ebisu | 恵比寿君嶋屋 | 東京都渋谷区恵比寿南1-6-1 アトレ恵比寿 西館4階 Open in Google Maps |
| Kyoto | 酒のやまもと 京都店 | 京都府京都市左京区川端通り三条上ル法林寺門前町36-3 Open in Google Maps |
| Osaka | 酒のやまもと 大阪店 | 大阪府大阪市中央区島之内2-6-32 Open in Google Maps |
| Hiroshima | 大和屋酒舗 胡町本店 | 広島県広島市中区胡町4-3 Open in Google Maps |
Please check the list for other stores (in Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Tokai, Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu). The list also includes each store’s phone number. It does not include stores inside airports.
Mail order is handled by the online shop of 株式会社1020. Please check the shop’s information for conditions such as the areas it can deliver to.
Before you buy
- The products each store carries, and its stock, differ from store to store. Seasonal and limited products may not arrive at a store, so please check with the store before visiting.
- 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 | 株式会社山口酒造場 (Yamaguchi Shuzojo Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1832 (the 3rd year of the Tenpo era) |
| Representative | Yamaguchi Tetsuo (山口哲生) |
| Address | 〒830-1122 福岡県久留米市北野町今山534番地1 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0942-78-2008 (weekdays 8:30–17:30) |
| Main brand | Niwa no Uguisu (庭のうぐいす) |
| Official website | https://niwanouguisu.com/ |
| Brewery tours | Not available (tastings also not available) |
| Shop | Yes (uguisubar; 9:00–17:00, also open on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays) |
| List of stockists | Partly published on the official website |
| English support | Not published |