Who will enjoy this brewery
- People who want to choose Ibaraki sake at Tokyo Station or at liquor stores in Ibaraki Prefecture
- People who want to compare sake from the same brewery, one sake rice variety at a time (sake rice: rice suited to making sake)
- People who want to try sake made from “Hitachi Nishiki”, a sake rice grown in Ibaraki Prefecture
- People looking for sake to drink with meals
About Morishima Shuzo
Morishima Shuzo (森島酒造) is a sake brewery on the coast at Kawajiri (川尻), in the northern part of Hitachi (日立市), Ibaraki Prefecture. It was founded in 1869. It has two brands: “Morishima (森嶋)”, made by 森嶋正一郎, the sixth generation and the brewery’s toji (master brewer: the person in charge of sake making), and “Fuji Taikan (富士大観)”, which carries on the brewery’s history.
For brewery tours and sales at the brewery, please see “Visiting the brewery” below. Morishima is carried by stockists across Japan, whose list the brewery publishes.
Morishima received a gold award at the Zenkoku Shinshu Kanpyokai (National New Sake Competition) for the Reiwa 7 brewing year (jointly organized by the National Research Institute of Brewing and the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association).
Drawing mountain water right beside the sea
In the northern part of Hitachi is the Kawajiri coast, with a small swimming beach and a fishing port. Morishima Shuzo is 70 steps’ walk from that shore.
The brewery makes its sake with water drawn up from a well on its grounds. Although the brewery is right by the sea, this water is underground water that flows from the mountains at the southern end of the Abukuma Mountains (阿武隈山地), and it is hard water.
The brewery was founded by the first generation, 森嶋道正, who had been a samurai of the Mito domain. He chose this place because there was underground water from the mountains, and because rice farming was thriving and rice was easy to obtain. In 1945, the brewery and the family house were burned in an air raid during the war. The fourth generation brought in fire-resistant Oya stone (大谷石) to rebuild the brewery, and soon restarted sake making.
In the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, a crack in the ground ran across the site, many bottles waiting to be shipped broke, and large cracks also appeared in the walls of the Oya stone brewery building. After considering moving or closing, the brewery decided to make as many repairs as it could and continue making sake on this site.
“Taikan” from Yokoyama Taikan, and “Morishima” from the sixth generation
In 1953, after the war, the fourth generation visited the Japanese-style painter Yokoyama Taikan (横山大観), with whom he was on friendly terms, and the brand “Taikan” was born from that connection. In 2019, the brewery’s 150th anniversary, the brand was renamed “Fuji Taikan”.
In the same year, 2019, a new brand, “Morishima”, was born, which the sixth generation, 森嶋正一郎, makes himself as toji. In 2006, 正一郎 became the first person from Ibaraki Prefecture to pass the qualifying examination for 南部杜氏 toji, and since 2015 the brewery has stopped hiring a toji each season; the brewery owner serves as toji.
What Morishima aims for is a clean clarity that sits alongside food, a fresh taste, and a moderate acidity that lets you keep drinking. To make sake whose aroma is not too strong and which is not too sweet, the brewery chooses traditional koji mold and yeast. For sake rice, it chose four varieties: Omachi (雄町), Hitachi Nishiki (ひたち錦), Yamada Nishiki (山田錦) and Miyama Nishiki (美山錦). Since 2002, it has asked farmers in neighboring 高萩市 to grow Miyama Nishiki.
Here are three products from the brewery’s product list. The prices are the tax-included prices the brewery shows, and they may differ by region (checked on September 30, 2026).
- Morishima Omachi 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 only Omachi, and it is a genshu (undiluted sake) with no water added. Heat-treated in the bottle (pasteurization, hiire); 2,035 yen for 720 ml
- Morishima Hitachi Nishiki Karakuchi Junmai Ginjo — 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. The sake rice is Hitachi Nishiki from Ibaraki Prefecture. Pasteurized; 1,870 yen for 720 ml
- Fuji Taikan Blue Label Junmai Ginjo — A junmai ginjo made only with Hitachi Nishiki from Ibaraki Prefecture. 1,650 yen for 720 ml
“Karakuchi” does not mean salty or spicy; it is a word for a clean taste with little sweetness. Morishima also has namazake (unpasteurized sake) that is not pasteurized. Namazake needs to be kept refrigerated.
Visiting the brewery
The brewery does not give information about accepting brewery tours on its official website. Whether it sells at the brewery, and its opening hours, are also not published (checked on September 30, 2026). If you would like to visit, please contact the brewery in advance (phone 0294-43-5334).
Address: 〒319-1411 茨城県日立市川尻町1-17-7
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Morishima Shuzo’s sake
The brewery publishes a list of the main stockists of Morishima on its official website. There are 62 stores in total: 11 in Ibaraki Prefecture and 51 outside it. From the list, we have chosen stores that are easy to stop by during a trip (checked on September 30, 2026).
| Area | Store | Address | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hitachi | 須田酒店 | 茨城県日立市鮎川町4-3-15 Open in Google Maps | Sundays |
| Mito | 水戸京成百貨店（地下1階 お酒売場） | 茨城県水戸市泉町1-6-1 Open in Google Maps | Irregular holidays |
| Mito | いばらき地酒バー水戸 | 茨城県水戸市宮町1-1-1 水戸エクセルみなみ2階 Open in Google Maps | New Year’s Day, irregular holidays |
| Tsuchiura | 佐藤酒店 プレイアトレ土浦店 | 茨城県土浦市有明町1-30 JR土浦駅プレイアトレ土浦2階 Open in Google Maps | Open every day |
| Tokyo, Tokyo Station | はせがわ酒店 東京駅GranSta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 | Open every day |
| Tokyo, Nihonbashi | はせがわ酒店 日本橋店 | 東京都中央区日本橋本町2-1-1 Open in Google Maps | Open every day |
| Tokyo, Azabu-Juban | はせがわ酒店 麻布十番店 | 東京都港区麻布十番2-3-3 Open in Google Maps | Open every day |
| Tokyo, Sendagi | 伊勢五 千駄木本店 | 東京都文京区千駄木3-3-13 Open in Google Maps | Tuesdays |
| Osaka | 酒蔵 なかやま | 大阪府大阪市北区本庄東2-15-2 Open in Google Maps | Sundays and public holidays |
| Kyoto | 酒楽座 いのうえ | 京都府京都市南区東九条西岩本町5 Open in Google Maps | Sundays and public holidays |
For other stores and each store’s phone number, please see the list.
Before you buy
- The brewery says, “Items may be out of stock, so please check in advance before buying” (「品切れの場合もございますので、事前にご確認の上お買い求めください」). Limited and seasonal products may not come in, so please check with the store before visiting.
- Morishima and Fuji Taikan have many products, and the ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product. Please check the label for the type.
- Products marked “要冷蔵” (keep refrigerated), such as namazake, should be carried refrigerated.
- 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 | 森島酒造株式会社 (Morishima Sake brewery Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | October 1869 (the 2nd year of the Meiji era) |
| Representative | Representative Director 森嶋鎮一郎 (the toji is Senior Managing Director 森嶋正一郎) |
| Address | 〒319-1411 茨城県日立市川尻町1-17-7 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0294-43-5334 (fax 0294-43-5335) |
| Main brands | Morishima (森嶋), Fuji Taikan (富士大観) |
| Official website | https://www.morishima-sake.jp/ |
| Brewery tours | Not published |
| Sales at the brewery | Not published |
| List of stockists | Published on the official website (62 stores; checked on September 30, 2026) |
| English support | The official website has English and Chinese pages. English support at the brewery is not published |