Who will enjoy this brewery
- People who are visiting Kotohira-gu (Konpira-san) in Kagawa Prefecture and want to know the sake made in that town
- People who want to look for unfiltered sake, with the taste just as it was made, at restaurants and liquor stores
- People who can enjoy drinking and searching for sake as part of their trip, rather than visiting the brewery (Maruo Honten has not published that it accepts brewery tours)
About Maruo Honten
Maruo Honten (丸尾本店) is a brewery in Enai (榎井), Kotohira (琴平町), Nakatado District, Kagawa Prefecture. It was founded in 1885 (the 18th year of the Meiji era), and its brands are “Yorokobi Gaijin (悦凱陣)” and “Homare Gaijin (誉凱陣)”.
No information has been published about brewery tours or sales at the brewery. No official website for Maruo Honten can be found (checked on September 30, 2026).
None of Maruo Honten’s sake is filtered. In sake making, the pressed sake is sometimes treated with charcoal to adjust its color, aroma and flavor, but Maruo Honten does not use this charcoal at all.
The shrine town of Kotohira-gu
Kotohira is a town in the west of Kagawa Prefecture, and it is the shrine town in front of Kotohira-gu (金刀比羅宮). Kotohira-gu is also called “Konpira-san”, and it is known for its god of the sea. The shrine is halfway up Mount Zozu (象頭山), and from the entrance of the approach there are 785 stone steps to the main shrine and 1,368 steps to the inner shrine. The town has been busy with worshippers since the Edo period.
The main approach is lined with Sanuki udon (讃岐うどん) shops and souvenir shops. The town also has “旧金毘羅大芝居” (Kanamaru-za), a playhouse built in 1835. It is an Important Cultural Property of Japan, and since 1985 the “四国こんぴら歌舞伎大芝居” kabuki performance has been held there in spring.
Taking time and care, and leaving it just as it is
Maruo Honten steams its rice with a koshiki (甑, a tool for steaming rice) made of wood and a 和釜 (a pot that produces the steam).
In sake making, part of the steamed rice is made into koji (steamed rice on which koji mold has been grown), and the rest is cooled and used directly in the mash. This rice is called kakemai. Maruo Honten takes great care in handling its kakemai and loosens it well. It takes the same care with every sake, from junmai daiginjo to junmai-shu.
- Junmai-shu (純米酒) — Sake made only from rice, rice koji and water
- Junmai daiginjo (純米大吟醸) — Sake made only from rice, rice koji and water, with more than half of the outer part of the rice polished away
The finished sake is released just as it was made, with no filtering and no charcoal treatment.
Yorokobi Gaijin comes in several types, from junmai daiginjo to junmai-shu. Please check the label for the type and the name of the rice.
Visiting the brewery
Maruo Honten has not published that it accepts brewery tours (checked on September 30, 2026). No published information about sales at the brewery can be found either. Please do not plan your trip on the assumption that you can visit.
If you want to go inside a sake brewery building in Kotohira, 西野金陵 (brand “金陵”) in the same town opens its brewery facing the entrance of the approach to Kotohira-gu as a museum, “Kinryo no Sato (金陵の郷)”. The museum is open every day of the year. Opening hours are 9:00–16:30 on weekdays and 9:00–17:30 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and admission is free. At the brewery-owned store on the grounds, you can also taste sake (all checked on September 30, 2026). The museum may close temporarily or change its opening hours, so please check the Kinryo no Sato information before visiting.
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Maruo Honten’s sake
Maruo Honten does not publish a list of stockists or authorized retailers (tokuyakuten) (checked on September 30, 2026). No official website or official online store for the brewery can be found either.
This page does not list any stores. When looking for a store, please check on the liquor store’s website that it carries “Yorokobi Gaijin” before visiting. To contact the brewery, call 0877-75-2045.
Before you buy
- Yorokobi Gaijin comes in several types. Please check the label for the type.
- Whether a store carries the sake, and its stock, differ from store to store. Limited and seasonal products may not arrive at a store, so please check with the store before visiting.
- For products whose label shows a storage temperature, please follow it.
- 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 | 有限会社丸尾本店 (Maruo Honten) |
| Founded | 1885 (the 18th year of the Meiji era) |
| Representative | 丸尾忠興 |
| Address | 〒766-0004 香川県仲多度郡琴平町榎井93 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0877-75-2045 (fax 0877-75-2116) |
| Main brands | Yorokobi Gaijin (悦凱陣) / Homare Gaijin (誉凱陣) |
| Official website | Could not be confirmed (as of September 30, 2026) |
| Brewery tours | Not published |
| Sales at the brewery | Not published |
| List of stockists | Not published (checked on September 30, 2026) |
| English support | Not published |