Who will enjoy this brewery
- People traveling through Saku, in the east of Nagano Prefecture, who want to stop at the brewery’s own shop to taste and buy sake (the brewery has not published whether it accepts brewery tours)
- People who want to try sake made only from rice grown in specific paddies
- People who would also like to try the amazake made at the brewery, sweetened only by rice koji
About Tsuchiya Shuzoten
Tsuchiya Shuzoten (土屋酒造店) is a brewery in Nakagomi (中込), Saku (佐久市), Nagano Prefecture. It was founded in 1900 (Meiji 33). Its main brands are “Kamenoumi (亀の海)”, which the brewery has made for a long time, and “Akanesasu (茜さす)”, made with rice from local paddies.
Tsuchiya Shuzoten has not published whether it accepts brewery tours (checked on October 27, 2026). Instead, the brewery has its own shop, where you can taste and buy sake.
A highland ringed by mountains, with harsh winters
Saku is a highland basin on the upper reaches of the Chikuma River (千曲川). It is surrounded on all sides by Mt. Yatsugatake (八ヶ岳), Mt. Arafune (荒船山), Mt. Tateshina (蓼科山) and Mt. Asama (浅間山). The paddies are at 650 m or higher; in summer the difference between day and night temperatures is large, and in winter there are days when it gets colder than minus 10°C.
Tsuchiya Shuzoten’s brewing water is underground water from the mountains that flows beneath the Chikuma River: groundwater that is “moderately soft water (中軟水)”, containing a moderate amount of minerals.
The brewery began in 1900 when it took over 越後屋・石山酒造場, a sake brewery in Nakagomi village. It inherited the wooden brewing building, and has kept it wooden even when repairing the buildings. Near the brewery stands the “Former Nakagomi School (旧中込学校)”, a school building that is a national Important Cultural Property.
“Akanesasu”, made with rice from Gorobei Shinden
“Akanesasu” is a sake that grew out of 佐久酒の会 (a Saku sake society), started in 2000 by local high-school alumni, farmers and the 5th-generation brewery owner. It began with sake rice grown without pesticides at “Gorobei Shinden (五郎兵衛新田)” in Asashina (浅科), Saku. Gorobei Shinden is an area of paddies with clay soil.
The rice is now grown with reduced pesticides, and contract farmers grow two varieties, “Hitogokochi” and “Kinmon Nishiki (金紋錦)”. The paddies are fixed, and the rice and the resulting sake are compared over several years. There is also “Akanesasu BIO”, made from rice grown organically in the Kiyokawa (清川) district of Saku.
The name “Akanesasu” was given because the view of the sun shining on Gorobei Shinden resembled the scenery of a poem by Nukata no Okimi (額田王) in the Man’yoshu (Japan’s oldest anthology of poems), which opens with 「茜さす紫野行き標野行き」.
In 2020 the society changed its name to 茜さす会 (the Akanesasu society), and it is now run by the brewery. Members can take part in rice planting, the rice harvest and sake-making experiences (annual membership fee 15,000 yen per person; members are recruited from March to August every year).
The long-standing “Kamenoumi”
“Kamenoumi” is the series the brewery has made for a long time. It ranges from “junmai daiginjo”, made only from rice, rice koji and water with half or more of the outer part of the rice polished away, to “honjozo”, with 30% or more of the outer part of the rice polished away and a small amount of brewer’s alcohol added. The rice and the rice polishing ratio differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type.
There are also seasonal products. The summer “Semishigure (蝉しぐれ)” 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) that is a “genshu” (sake with no water added), yet is kept to 13–14% alcohol. The brewery recommends pairing it with salt-grilled ayu (sweetfish) from the Chikuma River. For the autumn “Akiagari (秋あがり)”, it recommends リコボウ (ハナイグチ, a larch bolete mushroom gathered in the hills near villages), blanched and dressed (ohitashi).
Early in the Taisho era, the brewery adopted a method of making the “shubo” (the yeast starter that gets fermentation going) in a short time, and stopped using the traditional, labor-intensive methods. In 2013 it revived one of those traditional methods, “yamahai”, for the first time in 100 years, and in 2017 it also revived “kimoto”.
Visiting the brewery
The brewery has not published whether it accepts tours
Tsuchiya Shuzoten has not published whether it accepts brewery tours (checked on October 27, 2026). If you visit, go to the brewery’s own shop. Besides sake, it sells shochu, amazake and brewery goods, and you can taste there too.
| The brewery’s own shop (checked on October 27, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Address | 長野県佐久市中込1914-2 Open in Google Maps |
| Opening hours | Weekdays 9:00–17:30. Saturdays 10:30–12:00 and 13:30–17:00 |
| Closed | Sundays and national holidays |
| Parking | 8 spaces |
Opening days over the New Year holidays, the long holidays in May and in August are announced each year in the news section of the official website. People under 20 and people who will be driving cannot taste. In Japan, drunk driving is prohibited by law.
Getting there
Address: 〒385-0051 長野県佐久市中込1914番地2
The top page of the brewery’s official website has a link to a map (Google Maps).
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Tsuchiya Shuzoten’s sake
The brewery does not publish a list of stockists (checked on October 27, 2026). To buy at the brewery, go to its own shop; to buy from far away, use the brewery’s official online store.
| Where to buy | Details (checked on October 27, 2026) |
|---|---|
| The brewery’s own shop | 佐久市中込1914-2. Weekdays 9:00–17:30, Saturdays 10:30–12:00 and 13:30–17:00. Closed on Sundays and national holidays |
| Official online store | The Tsuchiya Shuzoten online store. It carries Kamenoumi, Akanesasu and amazake. Free shipping on orders of 30,000 yen or more |
Before you buy
- The brewery’s amazake (あま酒) is a sweet drink, sweetened only by rice koji, that the 5th-generation brewery owner and the toji (master brewer) developed in 1980.
- Unpasteurized sake (such as muroka nama genshu) needs to be kept cold. Put it in the refrigerator when you get to where you are staying.
- 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 Nagano Prefecture are gathered on our Nagano Prefecture page.
Brewery facts
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Brewery | 株式会社土屋酒造店 (Tsuchiya Shuzoten) |
| Founded | 1900 (Meiji 33) |
| Representative | 土屋聡, representative director |
| Address | 〒385-0051 長野県佐久市中込1914番地2 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0267-62-0113 (fax 0267-62-6413) |
| Main brands | Kamenoumi (亀の海), Akanesasu (茜さす) |
| Official website | https://kamenoumi.com/ |
| Brewery tours | Whether they are accepted has not been published (checked on October 27, 2026) |
| Brewery shop | The brewery’s own shop. Weekdays 9:00–17:30, Saturdays 10:30–12:00 and 13:30–17:00, closed on Sundays and national holidays |
| List of stockists | Not published (checked on October 27, 2026) |
| English support | No English official page |