兵庫県
Hyogo
Sake in Hyogo
Hyogo Prefecture lies near the center of the Japanese archipelago, facing the Sea of Japan to the north and the Seto Inland Sea to the south. The Hyogo Federation of Sake Brewers Associations has 64 member sake brewing companies (as of September 2026). About 90,400 kiloliters of sake are made in the prefecture each year (fiscal 2023), 30% of the national total.
The area stretching from Higashinada and Nada wards of Kobe City to Ashiya City and Nishinomiya City is called “Nada Gogo” (the five districts of Nada), and is made up of five districts: Nishigo, Mikagego, Uozakigo, Nishinomiyago and Imazugo. In winter a cold wind called “Rokko Oroshi” blows down from Mount Rokko, bringing a climate suited to brewing sake in the cold season. In the late Edo period, “Miyamizu,” the water used for brewing, was discovered. It is hard water, rich in minerals. In 2018 Nada Gogo was designated under the geographical indication (GI) system, which protects the names of sake-producing regions. One of its conditions is “a crisp, clean finish.”
Yamada Nishiki, a rice variety suited to sake brewing (shuzo kotekimai), was named in 1936 and became a recommended variety of Hyogo Prefecture. Yamada Nishiki grown in Hyogo accounts for 57% of national shipments (2022 crop). Nada Gogo sake has been strongly influenced by the Tamba toji, a group of toji (master brewers). The prefecture also has other sake-producing areas such as Itami, Harima, Awaji, Tamba-Sasayama and Kita-Hyogo (northern Hyogo), and “Harima” (2020) and “Itami” (2024) have also been designated as geographical indications.
Brewery map
Close-up (Kobe, Nishinomiya, Itami)
Breweries by municipality (dot size shows the number of breweries)Featured breweries
- Sawanotsuru 沢の鶴Kobe
- Kenbishi Shuzo 剣菱酒造Kobe
- Kikumasamune Shuzo 菊正宗酒造Kobe
- Hakutsuru Shuzo 白鶴酒造Kobe
- Sakuramasamune 櫻正宗Kobe
- 宝酒造株式会社 白壁蔵Kobe
- Tatsuma Honke Shuzo 辰馬本家酒造Nishinomiya
- Hakutaka 白鷹Nishinomiya
- Nihonsakari 日本盛Nishinomiya
- Ozeki 大関Nishinomiya
- Konishi Shuzo 小西酒造Itami
The 77 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
- Hakutsuru Shuzo 白鶴酒造Hakutsuru 白鶴KobeRead the article
- Kikumasamune Shuzo 菊正宗酒造Kikumasamune 菊正宗KobeRead the article
- 宝酒造株式会社 白壁蔵松竹梅白壁蔵KobeRead the article
- Ozeki 大関Ozeki 大関NishinomiyaRead the article
- Sawanotsuru 沢の鶴Sawanotsuru 沢の鶴Kobe
- Tatsuma Honke Shuzo 辰馬本家酒造Kuromatsu Hakushika 黒松白鹿Nishinomiya
- Kenbishi Shuzo 剣菱酒造Kenbishi 剣菱Kobe
- Konishi Shuzo 小西酒造Shirayuki 白雪Itami
- Hakutaka 白鷹Hakutaka 白鷹Nishinomiya
- Nihonsakari 日本盛Nihonsakari 日本盛Nishinomiya
- Sakuramasamune 櫻正宗Sakuramasamune 櫻正宗Kobe