Who will enjoy this brewery
- People who are looking for sake to drink with food
- People who want to buy sake from Miyagi Prefecture at liquor stores in Sendai or Tokyo to take home
- People who want to try, in fresh condition, the sake of a brewery that is particular about quality control through refrigeration
- People who can enjoy drinking and searching for sake as part of their trip, rather than visiting the brewery (Niizawa Jozoten does not accept brewery tours from the general public)
About Niizawa Jozoten
Niizawa Jozoten (新澤醸造店) is a brewery in Miyagi Prefecture. Its head office is in Sanbongi, Osaki (大崎市三本木), and its sake is made at the “Kawasaki brewery” (川崎蔵) in Kawasaki (川崎町), Shibata District. Its main brands are “Hakurakusei (伯楽星)” and “Atago no Matsu (愛宕の松)”. Some “Atago no Matsu” products are written in hiragana as “あたごのまつ”.
It was founded in 1873. Its English company name is NIIZAWA SAKE BREWERY, and its official website also has English pages.
Brewery tours are not available. The brewery does not accept tours from the general public (checked on September 30, 2026).
From Osaki to Kawasaki
For a long time after its founding, Niizawa Jozoten made sake in Sanbongi, Osaki. In 1925, it had the opportunity to speak about “Osaki Kodo (大崎耕土)”, the local rice-growing area, in front of the Prince Regent (later Emperor Showa). To commemorate this, it renamed its main brand, which had continued since around its founding, “Atago no Matsu”, after the pine trees rooted on Mount Atago (愛宕山). It is a brand that uses local rice and aims to be a sake rooted in the region.
In the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, the brewery’s three buildings in Sanbongi and the family’s home were all judged to be completely destroyed. Niizawa Jozoten kept its head office in Osaki and moved its sake brewery to Kawasaki, about 70 kilometers away. In the same year, the current Representative Director, Niizawa Iwao (新澤巖夫), became the fifth-generation president.
The toji (the person responsible for sake making) at the Kawasaki brewery is 渡部七海. In 2018, in her third year at the company, she took over the role of toji from President Niizawa at the age of 22. The brewery’s policy is to make sake with the kurabito (brewery workers) sharing their opinions with one another, regardless of age, background or gender.
Hakurakusei, to go with meals
“Hakurakusei” is a brand that President Niizawa launched in 2002 after returning to the brewery. The brewery calls this sake “the ultimate shokuchu-shu”. “Shokuchu-shu” (食中酒) means sake you drink while eating a meal. The brewery describes the sake it aims for as follows (from “Kyukyoku no Shokuchu-shu towa” (What is the ultimate shokuchu-shu) on Niizawa Jozoten’s official website).
“A sake that draws out the strength that the ingredients of a dish have in themselves, and makes a meal taste better” “A sake with its sugar content set low; it has no impact, but before you know it, you have drunk a second and third glass”
「料理の素材そのものが持つ力を引き出し、食事をよりおいしく感じさせる酒」 「糖度を低めに設定し、インパクトはないものの、気がつくと2杯3杯と飲み進められる酒」
Hakurakusei’s sugar content is set about half as low as that of the brewery’s “Atago no Matsu” and other commonly drunk sakes. The name comes from the saying “There are always horses that can run a thousand li, but there is not always a Bole (伯楽) to recognize them”, and from a local legend that a fine horse raised by Bole rose up to heaven. Bole (伯楽; hakuraku in Japanese) was a master in ancient China at judging the quality of horses.
Here are some representative products.
- Hakurakusei Tokubetsu Junmai — A “tokubetsu junmai-shu”, made only from rice, rice koji and water, with 40% or more of the outer part of the rice polished away. You can enjoy it both chilled and as kan (warmed sake)
- Hakurakusei 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. It is recommended to drink it chilled
“Hakurakusei” and “Atago no Matsu” have many other products as well. The ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type.
Delivered cold
Niizawa Jozoten stores all of its finished sake, from high-priced products to cup sake, in refrigerators at minus 5°C. Most of its sake is pasteurized (heated to kill microbes; hiire) only once, and no product is pasteurized twice. “Namazake”, which is never pasteurized, changes in quality easily, so it is released only during winter. The brewery also asks the liquor stores it deals with to keep its sake refrigerated.
Products sold all year round are shipped with a taste that changes with the season: lighter and cleaner in summer, fuller in winter. Once a year, the brewery drives around its authorized retailers (tokuyakuten: liquor stores with a trading contract with the brewery) and restaurants across Japan, and if it finds products on the shelves that do not suit the season, it collects and exchanges them.
For polishing, it uses a “henpei seimai” (扁平精米, flat polishing) machine, which polishes mainly in the direction of the grain’s thickness rather than its length or width, and a machine that can polish rice to a rice polishing ratio (the share of the rice that remains, relative to the weight of the original rice) of less than 1%.
The “Atago no Matsu” (あたごのまつ) from Niizawa Jozoten’s Kawasaki brewery was among the prize-winning sakes at the Zenkoku Shinshu Kanpyokai (National New Sake Competition) for the Reiwa 7 brewing year (organized by the National Research Institute of Brewing and the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association; announced on May 20, 2026).
Visiting the brewery
Niizawa Jozoten does not accept brewery tours from the general public (checked on September 30, 2026). There is no information about a brewery shop either.
If you want to enjoy sake in Miyagi Prefecture, one option is to visit the authorized retailers in Sendai listed under “Where to buy” below.
Where to buy Niizawa Jozoten’s sake
Niizawa Jozoten sells its sake through authorized retailers. On the “Shops where you can buy our sake” page of its official website, you can search for stores by prefecture. The list includes 149 stores from Hokkaido to Kyushu (checked on September 30, 2026). The brewery does not have an official online store.
Here are the main stores along travelers’ routes (stockists are based on the brewery’s official list, checked on September 30, 2026). The brands carried differ from store to store.
| Area | Store | Address | Brands carried | Store website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Osaki (home of the head office) | 地酒 宅の店 よしき | 宮城県大崎市古川千手寺町1-7-2 Open in Google Maps | 伯楽星 (Hakurakusei), 愛宕の松 (Atago no Matsu) | Not on the list (phone 0229-22-0729) |
| Sendai | はくさん 仙台中央店 | 宮城県仙台市青葉区中央4-2-27 510ビル1階 Open in Google Maps | 伯楽星 (Hakurakusei), 愛宕の松 (Atago no Matsu) | https://hakusann.com/ |
| Sendai | 藤崎 (department store) | 宮城県仙台市青葉区一番町3丁目2-17 Open in Google Maps | 愛宕の松 (Atago no Matsu) | https://www.fujisaki.co.jp/ |
| Tokyo | 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東京駅構内B1 Open in Google Maps | 伯楽星 (Hakurakusei), 愛宕の松 (Atago no Matsu) | https://www.hasegawasaketen.com/ |
| Tokyo | IMADEYA GINZA | 東京都中央区銀座6-10-1 GINZA SIX B2F Open in Google Maps | 伯楽星 (Hakurakusei), 愛宕の松 (Atago no Matsu) | https://imadeya.co.jp/pages/corporate/ |
| Tokyo | 地酒専門 四谷 鈴傳 | 東京都新宿区四谷1-10 Open in Google Maps | 伯楽星 (Hakurakusei), 愛宕の松 (Atago no Matsu) | http://suzuden-sake.com/ |
| Osaka | 酒のやまもと 大阪店 | 大阪府大阪市中央区島之内2-6-32 Open in Google Maps | 伯楽星 (Hakurakusei), 愛宕の松 (Atago no Matsu) | http://sakenoyamamoto.main.jp/ |
| Kyoto | きたむら酒食品店 | 京都府八幡市八幡柿ヶ谷14-111 Open in Google Maps | 伯楽星 (Hakurakusei), 愛宕の松 (Atago no Matsu) | https://www.kitasake.com/ |
There are also authorized retailers throughout Japan, including 36 stores in Miyagi Prefecture and 24 in Tokyo. For stores not listed here, please check the brewery’s official list. The products each store carries, and its stock, differ from store to store, and seasonal products change, so please contact the store before visiting.
Before you buy
- Namazake is a winter-only product. Please store it as the label and the store recommend. Its quality will not suddenly drop if you carry it at room temperature, but once you reach your accommodation, please chill it well in the refrigerator before drinking.
- The brewery recommends putting the bottle in the refrigerator right after opening and finishing it soon.
- 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 |
|---|---|
| Company | 株式会社新澤醸造店 (NIIZAWA SAKE BREWERY CO.,LTD.) |
| Founded | 1873 (the 6th year of the Meiji era) |
| Representative | Representative Director Niizawa Iwao (新澤巖夫) |
| Address | Head office: 〒989-6300 宮城県大崎市三本木字北町63番地 / Kawasaki brewery: 宮城県柴田郡川崎町大字今宿字小銀沢山1番地115 Open in Google Maps Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0229-52-3002 (head office; fax 0229-52-5226) |
| Main brands | Hakurakusei (伯楽星) / Atago no Matsu (愛宕の松, あたごのまつ) |
| Toji | 渡部七海 |
| Official website | https://niizawa-brewery.co.jp/ (English pages: https://niizawa-brewery.co.jp/en/ ) |
| Brewery tours | Not available (tours from the general public are not accepted) |
| Sales at the brewery | No information. There is no official online store either |
| List of stockists | Published (“Shops where you can buy our sake”, 149 stores; checked on September 30, 2026) |