Who will enjoy this brewery
- People traveling in Nagasaki Prefecture who want to try sake made from local rice
- People who are interested in light sake with sourness and bitterness
- People who want to drop in at the brewery shop while walking around Hirado (you cannot tour the production areas)
- People who enjoy looking for limited sakes, released almost every month, at liquor stores
About Mori Shuzojo
Mori Shuzojo (森酒造場) is a brewery in 新町 in Hirado (平戸市), Nagasaki Prefecture. Its brand is “Hiran (飛鸞)”. It was founded in 1895 (the 28th year of the Meiji era) by 森幸吉 under the trade name “小松屋”.
Besides sake, it also has shochu and liqueur products.
You cannot tour the production areas. At the brewery’s “Meiji-gura” (明治蔵) storehouse, it offers explanations of its sake and sells it (checked on September 30, 2026).
The port town of Hirado, and the name “Hiran”
Hirado is a port town that prospered as a base for overseas trade. About 400 years ago, from 1609 to 1641, a Dutch trading post was located here.
“Hiran” is a brand name taken from an old name for Hirado. There is a legend that the silhouette of Hirado’s island, seen from the sea, looked like a sacred bird, the “ran” (鸞), taking flight, so it was named “Hiran-to” (飛鸞島, “the island of the flying ran”), which later changed into “Hirado”. The brewery chose this name in order to make sake that lets you feel Hirado’s local character.
Mori Shuzojo’s main brand has changed from “菊の露” to “Hounen (豊年)”, and then to “Hiran”.
A brewery that once nearly came to an end
The current toji (the person responsible for sake making) is the fifth-generation brewery owner, 森雄太郎. The president is the fourth generation, 森幸雄.
After the previous toji died, the brewery went through a period without any brewing technician, and it had become difficult to continue making sake. 森雄太郎 returned to Hirado from where he had been training, and joined the brewery in 2017. At the time, the brewery made only a small amount of sake for local drinking, and its buildings and equipment had grown old. He looks back on that time like this.
“I felt despair: ‘Can we really keep going from here?’”
「“これから本当にやっていけるのか”という絶望を感じた」 — 森雄太郎 (fifth-generation brewery owner and toji of Mori Shuzojo), Mori Shuzojo’s official note, “Hajimete no kata ni yonde hoshii ‘Hiran no Kyokasho’” (The Hiran textbook, for first-time readers) (published June 16, 2024)
From there, the brewery refined its skills, invested in equipment, and paid close attention to design as well. As of June 2024, more than 60 liquor stores sold Hiran.
The mission the brewery holds up is “to bring liveliness to Hirado”.
Hirado’s rice, and a traditional yeast starter
Mori Shuzojo aims to express the land of Hirado through sake. To do so, it has chosen local rice and traditional methods.
Rice. Nagasaki Prefecture has no sake rice (rice suited to making sake) variety of its own. So most Hiran is made from a rice called “Nikomaru (にこまる)” grown in Hirado. Nikomaru is a table rice widely grown in Nagasaki Prefecture; it is not a sake rice.
Water. The brewing water is water that springs from the foot of a temple called 最教寺.
Method. Sake is fermented from a “shubo” (yeast starter), in which yeast has been grown in large quantities. Most Hiran uses shubo made with “kimoto”, a method handed down since the Edo period that makes use of microorganisms in the air. 森雄太郎 completed his first kimoto sake on March 22, 2021. March 22 is called “Hiran Day”, and every year a commemorative product is released for this day. The 2025 product used a yeast living in the brewery, which the brewery had spent a long time developing.
The taste of Hiran, and its main products
What the brewery aims for is a sake that “keeps your cup moving”. It is designed so that moderate sourness and bitterness layer on a base of sweetness. Many have an alcohol content of around 13%, which is low for sake.
Here are three main products.
- HIRAN Nikomaru — Hiran’s most standard product, made to be released all year round. The rice used for the koji (steamed rice on which koji mold has been grown) is Yamada Nishiki (山田錦), and the rest of the rice (kakemai) is Nikomaru
- HIRAN Kagura (神楽) — A junmai-shu made with kimoto. Junmai-shu is sake made only from rice, rice koji and water. It uses “shiro koji” (白麹, white koji), which produces a lot of acid. The name comes from the kagura (sacred dance) handed down in Hirado
- Hiran Kizuna (絆) — A kimoto junmai-shu made only from Yamada Nishiki grown in Hirado. The brewery positions it as its representative product, embodying its idea of “expressing the character of Hirado as sake”
Besides these, Hiran releases limited products almost every month. The ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type.
Visiting the brewery
Mori Shuzojo does not offer tours of its production areas (inside the factory) (checked on September 30, 2026).
What you can visit is the brewery’s “Meiji-gura”. You can hear explanations of the sake and buy it.
| Meiji-gura (checked on September 30, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Opening hours | 9:00–17:00 |
| Closed | Irregular |
| Items sold | Only “brewery-limited” sake that is sold only at the brewery. The Hiran found at liquor stores is not sold here |
| Phone | 0950-23-3131 |
Brewery open day
Mori Shuzojo holds a “kura-biraki” (brewery open day: a festival that opens the brewery to the public) in spring. The most recent one was held on May 30 and 31, 2026. There were sales of limited sake available only at the open day, and paid tastings. Please check the brewery’s official website and official LINE account for the next dates.
Getting there
Address: 〒859-5115 長崎県平戸市新町31-2
The brewery is in the town on the south side of Hirado Port, near Hirado Castle and Hirado City Hall.
- By car from Fukuoka: About 2 hours 10 minutes by the route via Karatsu, or about 2 hours 15 minutes by the route using expressways (the Kyushu Expressway, the Nagasaki Expressway and the Nishi-Kyushu Expressway) (estimates)
- Bus and train: Please check routes to Hirado in the transport guide of the Hirado Tourism Association. Some routes have few services, so it is safest to check the last services for both the outward and return journeys
If you go by car, please take care not to drink and drive.
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Mori Shuzojo’s sake
Mori Shuzojo does not publish a list of stockists on its official website (checked on September 30, 2026). The brewery gives information on stores that sell Hiran through its official LINE account, and also answers inquiries through its official website.
Buying at the brewery and buying online work as follows.
- Meiji-gura: Sells only brewery-limited sake. For the Hiran sold at liquor stores, the brewery advises buying from a stockist near you
- Official online shop: Mori Shuzojo’s online shop delivers only within Japan. As of the check on September 30, 2026, the only sake it sold was “Firando (フィランド)”. Firando is a junmai-shu with an alcohol content of around 9%, made from rice grown in the terraced rice fields of 春日 in Hirado
- Products sold only within Nagasaki Prefecture: “Hiran Classic” is a product sold only at stores within Nagasaki Prefecture
Before you buy
- Hiran has many limited products by season and by month, and the same product is not always in stock at a store. Please check with the store before visiting.
- If the 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 | 有限会社森酒造場 (Mori Shuzojo Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1895 (the 28th year of the Meiji era) |
| Representative | President and Representative Director 森幸雄 |
| Toji | 森雄太郎 (fifth-generation brewery owner) |
| Address | 〒859-5115 長崎県平戸市新町31-2 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0950-23-3131 (fax 0950-22-4174) |
| Main brand | Hiran (飛鸞) |
| Brewing water | Water that springs from the foot of 最教寺 temple |
| Official website | https://mori-shuzou.jp/ |
| Brewery tours | Not available (tours of the production areas are not offered) |
| Sales at the brewery | Yes (Meiji-gura; brewery-limited sake only) |
| List of stockists | Not published on the official website. Information given through the official LINE account and inquiries (checked on September 30, 2026) |
| English support | Not published |