Who will enjoy this brewery
- People who want to go inside the place where sake is actually made, during their sightseeing in Kyoto (booking required, paid; you can choose a guide in Japanese or English)
- People who want to try sake brewed in central Kyoto with sake rice grown in Kyoto
- People who want to compare small tastes of the brewery’s sake without a booking (the paid tasting bar inside the brewery)
About Matsui Sake Brewery
Matsui Sake Brewery (松井酒造) is a brewery in Yoshida-Kawaramachi, Sakyo Ward (左京区), Kyoto. Its brand is “Kagura (神蔵, KAGURA)”. The Kamo River flows right next to the brewery, and the brewery calls its brewing site “Kamogawa Brewery (鴨川蔵)”.
If you book, you can tour the place where sake is actually being made, guided by kurabito (the craftspeople who make the sake). You can choose a guide in Japanese or English (checked on October 25, 2026).
From a port town on the Sea of Japan to central Kyoto
Matsui Sake Brewery began in 1726, and not in Kyoto. It began in Kasumi, in the old province of Tajima, now the town of Kami in Hyogo Prefecture, a port town facing the Sea of Japan. Alongside sake making, the Matsui family owned two ships and also traded with Hokkaido. The brewery’s long-standing brand “Fuji Chitose (富士千歳)” is said to have been named in the hope of safe voyages.
At the end of the Edo period, the brewery moved to central Kyoto. It lost its brewery in the great fire of 1864, and was later forced to move by the construction of a streetcar line. The place the 13th head of the family moved to in search of good water is today’s Yoshida-Kawaramachi.
However, because of the effects of later underground construction work, the brewery could no longer use the well water that is essential for making sake. From the end of the Showa era into the Heisei era, Matsui Sake Brewery had no choice but to stop making sake at its own brewery.
2009: sake making begins again in the same place
In 2009, the 14th head of the family decided to bring the brewery back. The cloudiness in the well water had cleared up, and the brewery dug one more well to secure its water. The sake making was taken on by his eldest son, 松井成樹, who was then living in Tokyo. He learned the basics at a brewery of Kizakura in Fushimi, Kyoto, and for two years after the Kamogawa Brewery was completed he was taught by 道高良造, a toji (the person responsible for the sake making) from Noto.
From 2012, 松井成樹 stood on his own as a “kuramoto toji”: the head of the brewery who is also responsible for the sake making. He became president in 2019 and took on the name “Matsui Jiemon (松井治右衛門)”, which the heads of the family have used for generations. Today the sake is made by a team of five.
Very soft well water, from rain that soaked into Mt. Hiei
The brewing water of the Kamogawa Brewery is rain that fell on Mt. Hiei and soaked into the ground over many years; it is drawn up from 50 m underground. Its hardness averages 35, and it is “very soft water” with very few minerals. With soft water, fermentation tends to be weak, so the brewer’s experience is put to the test in brewing.
The well carries on the name of a well dug by the brewery’s ancestors, “Senshin Kanrosui (洗心甘露水, water that cleanses the heart)”. The well in front of the brewery has a tap and is open for local people to use freely.
The brewery uses only “shuzo kotekimai (sake rice)”, rice suited to sake brewing. The main varieties are “Iwai (祝)” and “Gohyakumangoku” grown in Kyoto Prefecture. Everything from rice washing onward is done by hand, and new equipment is used for temperature and hygiene control. After pressing, the sake is stored in a cold room kept at −5°C all year.
Kagura sake
Here are four different kinds from Kagura’s standard range (checked on October 25, 2026). All four are “unfiltered, undiluted namazake (無濾過・無加水・生酒)”: after pressing they are neither filtered nor heated, and no water is added. Because they are namazake (unpasteurized sake) that has not been pasteurized (hiire), they must be kept in the refrigerator.
- Junmai Daiginjo KAGURA White (純米大吟醸 神蔵 白) — A “junmai daiginjo”: made only from rice, rice koji and water, with more than half of the outer part of the rice polished away. The rice is Iwai from Kyoto. It is highly aromatic, and its sweetness, acidity and bitterness layer over one another in a well-rounded, soft flavor.
- Junmai Daiginjo KAGURA Black (純米大吟醸 神蔵 黒) — Also a junmai daiginjo; the rice is Yamada Nishiki. A sweet aroma lingers, and on the palate it is clean.
- Junmai KAGURA Midnight Blue (純米 神蔵 ルリ) — A “junmai-shu” made only from rice, rice koji and water; the rice is Iwai. It has a fruity aroma and a firm rice flavor.
- Junmai KAGURA Clear (純米 神蔵 クリア) — A junmai-shu made with Iwai and “Kyo no Koi (京の恋)”, a yeast newly developed in Kyoto. Its alcohol content is 13%, lower than the other three (15–17%). Quantities are limited, and it may be out of stock.
There are also seasonal limited editions, and a liqueur made with Kagura, “KAGURA Liqueur (蜜號)”. White and Black are also sold in versions that are not namazake. Ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type.
Visiting the brewery
Brewery tours are available (booking required, paid, in Japanese or English)
Matsui Sake Brewery offers brewery tours if you book. There is no visitor walkway; kurabito guide you into the actual production area. Production work takes priority over tours.
| Brewery tour (checked on October 25, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Booking | Required. Use the inquiry form on the brewery tour page of the official website (English page here) to send your preferred date and time, the number of people, and the language (Japanese or English). A reply can take 3–4 days, so please apply early |
| Days and times | Every day except Sundays, national holidays and the New Year (a few days at the start of January; the number of days varies by year). Apply for a time between 10:00 and 18:00 |
| Fee | Paid. Includes 1,800 yen worth of tasting. Please check the amount on the official tour page. People who do not drink and people under 20 pay the same fee if they use a seat (except infants on a lap or in a stroller) |
| Time required | About 60–70 minutes, including tasting |
| Group size | You can apply alone, but depending on bookings you may be declined |
| Inquiries | 075-771-0246 |
The tour has a few rules. The brewery provides caps and shoe covers.
- On the day of the tour, please do not eat fermented foods such as natto or yogurt
- Please do not wear perfume or strongly scented creams or oils. Please also avoid smoking just before the tour
- The production area is cool, about 10–20°C, so wear clean clothes that are easy to move in, and dress so you can adjust. Please avoid long-pile, fuzzy clothing
- People who use wheelchairs or canes cannot go inside the brewery. They will wait inside the shop
- Even if you arrive late, the tour starts on time
The tasting bar “Shuchusen”
Inside the brewery shop is a paid tasting bar, “Shuchusen (酒中仙)”. You can choose whichever sake you like from the sake dispensers, and although it varies with the season, there are usually about 20 kinds. No booking is needed. There are only a few seats, so you may have to wait when it is busy. If you find a sake you like, you can buy it on the spot.
Shuchusen opens at 11:00 (checked on October 25, 2026). It is closed on the same days as the brewery.
In Japan, drunk driving is prohibited by law. The brewery does not serve sake to people who came by car, motorbike, bicycle, kick scooter or similar. There is no parking for cars or bicycles, so please come by train or bus.
Getting there
Address: 〒606-8305 京都府京都市左京区吉田河原町1-6
- By train: 10 minutes on foot from Demachiyanagi Station on the Keihan line
- By bus: 10 minutes on foot from the Higashi-Ichijo (東一条) stop of the Kyoto City Bus
Walking times are estimates (checked on October 25, 2026). Please check times and routes on the official websites of Keihan and the Kyoto City Transportation Bureau.
Opening days and visitor arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Matsui Sake Brewery’s sake
To buy at the brewery, go to the brewery’s retail counter, “Chitose Shoten (千歳商店)”. It is closed on Sundays, national holidays and over the New Year (checked on October 25, 2026).
The brewery’s official website has an online shop. It ships only to addresses in Japan, and the brewery does not ship overseas (checked on October 25, 2026). If you are staying in Japan, the brewery can also send sake you bought at its shop to an address in Japan.
Shops that sell Kagura
On the shops where you can buy page of the brewery’s official website, 7 shops in Kyoto City are listed in addition to the brewery’s retail counter. They include shops around Kyoto Station and department stores in Shijo-Kawaramachi (checked on October 25, 2026). The page does not say when the list was last updated, so please check the shop names and addresses on the list, and confirm with the shop before visiting.
Before you buy
- If you buy Kagura labeled “生酒” (namazake), keep it in the refrigerator at your accommodation too.
- Products and stock differ from shop to shop. Seasonal and limited products may not come in.
- 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
Other breweries in Kyoto Prefecture are gathered on our Kyoto Prefecture page.
Brewery facts
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Brewery | 松井酒造株式会社 (Matsui Sake Brewery Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1726 (Kyoho 11). The company was established in 1956 |
| Representative and toji | Matsui Jiemon (松井治右衛門; 15th generation, the name taken on by 松井成樹; kuramoto toji) |
| Address | 〒606-8305 京都府京都市左京区吉田河原町1-6 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 075-771-0246 |
| Main brands | Kagura (神蔵, KAGURA), Fuji Chitose (富士千歳) |
| Official website | https://matsuishuzo.com/ |
| Brewery tours | Available (booking required, paid, in Japanese or English; except Sundays, national holidays and the New Year) |
| Brewery shop | Retail counter “Chitose Shoten (千歳商店)”; paid tasting bar “Shuchusen (酒中仙)” |
| Mail order | Official online shop (Japan only) |
| List of stockists | Published (7 shops in Kyoto City plus the brewery’s retail counter; checked on October 25, 2026) |
| English support | English official website, and brewery tours in English |