Who will enjoy this brewery
- People who are not used to drinking sake and want to start with a sake that is low in alcohol (Mio has an alcohol content of 5%)
- People who do not mind guidance in Japanese and want to apply for a factory tour and sake tasting that are held by lottery and booking (held on only one day a month)
- People who want to try Mio, which is sold across Japan, while they are staying in Japan
- People who want to walk around the sake brewery district of Nada in Kobe, combined with visits to sake museums
About Shirakabegura
Shirakabegura (白壁蔵) is a sake brewery run by Takara Shuzo (宝酒造) in Ogi (青木), Higashinada Ward, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture (兵庫県神戸市東灘区). Takara Shuzo is an alcoholic beverage company with its head office in Kyoto. It also makes shochu and mirin, but this brewery makes sake.
“Sho Chiku Bai Shirakabegura (松竹梅白壁蔵)” is a brand of sake made at this brewery. The sparkling sake “Sho Chiku Bai Shirakabegura Mio (松竹梅白壁蔵「澪」)” is also made at this brewery. Takara Shuzo also calls the brewery itself “Sho Chiku Bai Shirakabegura”, so in this article we call the brewery “Shirakabegura” and the products “Sho Chiku Bai Shirakabegura” and “Mio”.
The only way to tour the Shirakabegura factory is the “sake tasting session” that Takara Shuzo holds on one day a month, by lottery and booking. All guidance is in Japanese, and the fee is 3,000 yen per person (checked on October 6, 2026).
“Sho Chiku Bai”, a name given by a Nada sake brewer
Takara Shuzo began in 1842. Its origin is when the Yomo family (四方家) in Fushimi (伏見), Kyoto, took over the right to make and sell sake.
The name “Sho Chiku Bai (松竹梅)” came from Nada (灘). In 1920, 井上信次郎, a sake brewer in Nada, gave the name “Sho Chiku Bai” to a sake as its brand name. The pine, bamboo and plum (松・竹・梅) have been valued as plants that do not lose their beauty even through the cold of winter, and since long ago they have been treated as a sign of good fortune. In 1933, Sho Chiku Bai Shuzo (松竹梅酒造) was established under Takara Shuzo, and it put its effort into selling “Sho Chiku Bai”.
Shirakabegura is a brewery in Uozakigo (魚崎郷), one of the five sake-brewing districts known as Nada Gogo (灘五郷, the five districts of Nada). Takara Shuzo’s Nada factory was damaged in the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995. Takara Shuzo rebuilt the factory and opened it in 2001 as “Sho Chiku Bai Shirakabegura”. The Nada area is described on the Hyogo page.
The sake called “Mio”
Mio is a sparkling sake released in June 2011. It was developed with the goal of making a product that people who are not familiar with sake would also drink.
“Mio (澪)” is a word for the flow of water in shallows, or the trail of foam left after a boat passes. Takara Shuzo compared the shallowness to the low alcohol content and the trail of foam to the sparkle, and gave the sake this name with the meaning of creating a new flow in sake. The romanized “MIO” also means “my” in Italian.
The alcohol content is 5%. The ingredients listed on the label are “rice (domestic), rice koji (domestic rice) / carbonation” (米（国産）、米麹（国産米）／炭酸). About the taste, Takara Shuzo writes this in its product information:
“It features a fruity aroma like muscat grapes and a gentle sweetness.”
「マスカットのようなフルーティーな香りとやさしい甘みが特長です。」
— from Takara Shuzo’s product information, “Sho Chiku Bai Shirakabegura Mio” (松竹梅白壁蔵『澪』)
There is also “Mio CLEAR (澪〈CLEAR〉)”, a less sweet type. Mio is exported to more than 40 countries (checked on October 6, 2026).
The suggested retail prices are 343 yen for 150 ml, 585 yen for 300 ml and 1,452 yen for 750 ml (excluding tax). These prices were revised along with the revision of the liquor tax rates on October 1, 2026, and the 300 ml price went up from 579 yen before the revision (checked on October 6, 2026).
Among the “Sho Chiku Bai” sake sold by Takara Sake USA in the United States, there are products made in Berkeley, California. The Mio (MIO) that the company sells is an import made in Nada.
Equipment that recreates the principles of handmade brewing, and human hands
Shirakabegura is a brewery that has both sake making with new equipment that recreates the traditional principles of handmade brewing, and sake making done almost entirely by hand. On the factory tour during the session, you can see this equipment from a visitor walkway.
“Sho Chiku Bai Shirakabegura Kimoto Junmai (松竹梅「白壁蔵」〈生酛純米〉)”, which carries the name of the brewery, is a sake made by kimoto (生酛). Kimoto is a way of making sake that has continued since the Edo period and uses the work of microorganisms such as yeast and lactic acid bacteria. This product is a “junmai-shu”, made only from rice, rice koji and water, and is a type intended to be drunk chilled. The suggested retail price for 640 ml is 1,255 yen (excluding tax; checked on October 6, 2026). Kimoto is explained in more detail on the Yamahai page.
Sake entered by Shirakabegura won a gold prize at the Zenkoku Shinshu Kanpyokai (National New Sake Competition) for the Reiwa 7 brewing year (July 2025 to June 2026), held jointly by the National Research Institute of Brewing and the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association.
Visiting the brewery
Sake tasting session (one day a month; lottery and booking)
Since September 2026, Shirakabegura has held a “sake tasting session” (醸造技術者から学ぶ利き酒体験会, “a sake tasting session to learn from brewing technicians”) on only one day a month. In the first part, about 60 minutes, you watch a video introducing Shirakabegura and then see the factory equipment from a visitor walkway. In the second part, about 60 minutes, you taste six kinds of Sho Chiku Bai sake while listening to explanations by Shirakabegura’s brewing technicians. Apart from the session, general tours are not accepted.
| Sake tasting session (checked on October 6, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Dates | One day a month (a Saturday). Two sessions: 10:00–12:00 in the morning and 14:00–16:00 in the afternoon |
| Capacity | 6 people per session. If applications exceed the capacity, there is a lottery. Sessions with fewer than 4 people are canceled |
| Fee | 3,000 yen per person (tax included). Paid in advance by credit card after you are selected. If you cancel for your own reasons, the fee is not refunded |
| Application | Through the application form on the official session page. The application period for each date is listed on the page |
| Language of guidance | Japanese only |
| Age | People under 20 (including small children) cannot enter |
| People who cannot taste | People who plan to drive, and people who are pregnant or breastfeeding |
| How to come | You cannot come by car or bicycle. There is no parking |
| Other | Photos and videos cannot be taken inside the factory. Please avoid strong perfume, hair products and fabric softener. There are no barrier-free facilities in the factory, and there are stairs and steps. If you are more than 30 minutes late, you may not be able to take part |
Participants receive an original kiki-choko (a small cup used for tasting sake). Some of the products tasted can be bought on the spot. Payment is cashless only, such as credit card or QR code payment; cash cannot be used. Products can also be sent by post, but shipping is charged separately, and some products can only be sent by refrigerated delivery.
Getting there
The address is 神戸市東灘区青木2丁目1-28.
- Hanshin Railway: About a 10-minute walk from Ogi Station on the Hanshin Main Line. Leave the ticket gate, go south, and walk east along National Route 43. The entrance is the east gate. Ogi Station is between Osaka-umeda Station and Kobe-sannomiya Station on the Hanshin Main Line
- Taxi: Tell the driver “サンシャインワーフ神戸のすぐ近く、宝酒造白壁蔵まで” (“to Takara Shuzo Shirakabegura, right next to Sunshine Wharf Kobe”)
Please check which trains stop at Ogi Station and their times on Hanshin Railway’s Ogi Station page.
Near Uozaki Station, next to Ogi Station, is the Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewery Museum, and near Sumiyoshi Station, the next station after that, is the Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum. Both can be entered without a booking for groups of fewer than 10 (checked on September 30, 2026). For details, see the articles on Kiku-Masamune (Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewing) and Hakutsuru (Hakutsuru Sake Brewing).
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Shirakabegura’s sake
Mio is a product that Takara Shuzo sells across Japan. Whether a store carries it, and its stock, differ from store to store. Please check the label for the type (Mio, or the less sweet Mio CLEAR).
- Shirakabegura: Participants in the session can buy some of the products tasted on the spot (cashless only)
- Takara Shuzo online shop: Only people living in Japan can use it, and delivery is limited to addresses in Japan. Mio was not in the product list (checked on October 6, 2026)
- 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 | 宝酒造株式会社 白壁蔵 (TAKARA SHUZO CO., LTD. Shirakabegura) |
| Company | 宝酒造株式会社 (head office: Fushimi Ward, Kyoto; head office administration: Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto) |
| Origins | Takara Shuzo: 1842 (Fushimi, Kyoto). Shirakabegura: 2001 (the Nada factory, damaged in the earthquake, reopened) |
| Representative | President and Representative Director 渋谷尚己 (TAKARA SHUZO CO., LTD.; as of June 26, 2026) |
| Address | 〒658-0027 兵庫県神戸市東灘区青木2丁目1-28 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 078-452-2851 (Shirakabegura) / 0120-120-064 (Takara Shuzo customer service center; 9:00–17:00, except Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays) |
| Main brands | Sho Chiku Bai Shirakabegura (松竹梅白壁蔵), Sho Chiku Bai Shirakabegura Mio (松竹梅白壁蔵「澪」) |
| Official website | https://www.takarashuzo.co.jp/products/seishu/shirakabegura/ (Mio: https://shirakabegura-mio.jp/ ) |
| Brewery tours | Only the sake tasting session on one day a month (lottery and booking; fee charged; Japanese only; age 20 and over) |
| Brewery sales | Some of the products tasted are sold at the session (for participants) |
| English support | Mio’s official website has English pages |