Who will enjoy this brewery
- People traveling in Kagoshima Prefecture who want to look for sake made in Kagoshima
- People who are interested in sake to drink with meals
- People who want to compare, within one brand, the differences between sake rice (rice suited to making sake) varieties
- People who can enjoy drinking and searching for sake as part of their trip, rather than visiting the brewery (no information on tours of the Tenbu brewery has been published)
About Nishi Shuzo
Nishi Shuzo (西酒造) is a company in Fukiage, Hioki (日置市吹上町), Kagoshima Prefecture, that makes alcoholic drinks. It was founded in 1845. Its sake brand is “Tenbu (天賦)”.
Nishi Shuzo also makes the “Houzan (宝山)” series of imo shochu (sweet potato shochu). Its business is producing and selling honkaku shochu as well as sake, whisky, wine, liqueurs and spirits. This article covers its sake, Tenbu.
Tenbu is made at a “sake brewery” separate from the head office. It is in Yokura (与倉), also in Fukiage. 2026 marks six years since Nishi Shuzo began making sake.
No information on tours of the Tenbu brewery has been published. Nishi Shuzo does not sell products at its head office (checked on September 30, 2026).
A town facing the East China Sea
Hioki is in the central-western part of the Satsuma Peninsula (薩摩半島). To the east it borders Kagoshima City (鹿児島市), where the prefectural government is, and to the west it faces the East China Sea.
Along the coast is Fukiagehama (吹上浜), a sand-dune beach that stretches for about 50 kilometers. It has been selected as one of the “100 Best Beaches of Japan” (日本の渚百選). It is a beach where loggerhead sea turtles come to lay their eggs, and from spring to autumn people also go shellfish gathering (shiohigari), digging for clams.
Nishi Shuzo thinks of making alcoholic drinks as something like farming. The head of the company, Yoichiro Nishi (西陽一郎), grew up looking out over the sweet potato fields and rice fields around the brewery.
A gift from heaven
“Tenbu” is a word meaning something you are born with, something given by heaven. On a page titled “What is Tenbu”, the brewery writes as follows (from Nishi Shuzo’s official website for “Tenbu sake”).
Sake born from the richness of the land and the mystery of life is a gift from heaven.
大地の豊かさ、生命の神秘から生まれる酒は、天からの授かりもの。
The brewing water comes from a water vein that flows deep beneath the land of Kagoshima. Nishi Shuzo also sells the same water as the mineral water “HOUMEI”.
The rice differs from product to product. The brewery uses “Omachi (雄町)” grown by contract farmers in the Akasaka (赤坂) district of Akaiwa (赤磐市), Okayama Prefecture, “Aiyama (愛山)” from Hyogo Prefecture, “Yamada Nishiki (山田錦)” from the Tojo (東条) district of Hyogo Prefecture, and others. In 2026, the brewery also made a product brewed with the sake rice “Sake Mirai (酒未来)”, received from Takagi Shuzo (高木酒造; brand “Juyondai”) in Yamagata Prefecture. The brewery also grows rice in its own rice fields for research cultivation.
Sake to drink with meals
The core product of Tenbu is “Tenbu Junmai Ginjo”. It is 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 brewery describes what it aims for with this product as sake to drink with meals, in other words a “shokuchu-shu” (食中酒). It aims for a soft taste in which sweetness, dryness, sourness, bitterness and astringency come together as one.
The other products are as follows (checked on September 30, 2026).
- Tenbu Junmai Ginjo Akaiwa Omachi Shiboritate Namazake (天賦 純米吟醸 赤磐雄町 搾立生酒) — A junmai ginjo made only from Omachi. It is a “namazake” that has never been pasteurized (heated to kill microbes) after pressing. It is a limited release shipped only once a year; in 2026, shipping began in April
- Tenbu Junmai Ginjo 播州愛山 — A junmai ginjo made only from Aiyama
- Tenbu Junmai Ginjo 羽前酒未来 — A junmai ginjo made only from Sake Mirai
- Tenbu 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 Yamada Nishiki from the Tojo district of Hyogo Prefecture
- Tenbu Junmai-shu — A “junmai-shu”, made only from rice, rice koji and water. It comes in a small 300 ml bottle
“Tenbu” includes several products, and the ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product. Please check the label for the type.
“Tenbu Junmai Ginjo” received GOLD in the Junmai Ginjo category of SAKE COMPETITION 2026 (organized by the SAKE COMPETITION Executive Committee).
Small batches, all year round
At the Tenbu brewery, each batch is kept small, and sake is brewed all year round. In making koji (steamed rice on which koji mold has been grown), the steamed rice is spread out in the koji room and worked by hand while the temperature and humidity are adjusted. The “shubo” (yeast starter: the base of fermentation), in which the yeast is multiplied, is raised over about two weeks.
Every year, the Tenbu brewery hangs a sugidama (a ball of bundled cedar leaves) made from cedar from Miwa (三輪), Nara Prefecture. A sugidama is a sign announcing that new sake is ready.
Visiting the brewery
No information on tours of the Tenbu brewery (the sake brewery) has been published (checked on September 30, 2026). Nishi Shuzo does not sell products at its head office.
Even if you do not plan to visit the brewery, there are liquor stores that sell Tenbu. For where to buy it, see “Where to buy Nishi Shuzo’s sake”.
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Nishi Shuzo’s sake
Nishi Shuzo does not publish a list of stockists or authorized retailers (tokuyakuten) (checked on September 30, 2026). If you contact the brewery, it can introduce you to a store near you. You can send an inquiry through the inquiry form on the official website. The company’s phone number is 099-296-4627.
The brewery’s official online shop, “Kurachoku CLUB (蔵直CLUB)”, accepts delivery only within Japan. As of the check on September 30, 2026, no Tenbu products were listed as available to buy.
Some liquor stores’ online shops also list Tenbu. In each case, we confirmed on the store’s website that it carries the sake; we have not confirmed whether the store is one of the brewery’s authorized retailers.
| Store | Address | Store website |
|---|---|---|
| はせがわ酒店 | 東京都港区 (the online shop’s sales site) | Tenbu Junmai Ginjo |
| 横浜君嶋屋 | 神奈川県横浜市南区 | Tenbu / Nishi Shuzo |
Before you buy
- The Tenbu brand includes several products, and the ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product. 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.
- Store namazake according to the storage method shown on the label.
- 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 | 西酒造株式会社 (Nishi Shuzo Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1845 (the 2nd year of the Koka era) |
| Representative | President and Representative Director Yoichiro Nishi (西陽一郎) |
| Address | 〒899-3309 鹿児島県日置市吹上町与倉4970-17 (head office) Open in Google Maps |
| Sake brewery | 鹿児島県日置市吹上町与倉3142-10 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 099-296-4627 (fax 099-296-4260) |
| Sake brand | Tenbu (天賦) |
| Official website | https://www.nishi-shuzo.co.jp/ (Tenbu: https://www.nishi-shuzo.co.jp/tenbu/) |
| Brewery tours | No information published |
| Sales at the brewery | Not sold at the head office |
| List of stockists | Not published (checked on September 30, 2026) |
| English support | The official website has English pages for Tenbu. English support at the brewery is not published |