Who will enjoy this brewery
- People on an island trip by boat from Fukuoka who want to look for the island’s sake
- People who are interested in aromatic sake drunk chilled from a wine glass
- People who want to know the story of a brewery that brought sake making back to an island of barley shochu
- People who enjoy searching for and drinking sake at liquor stores more than visiting the brewery (there is no information about regular tours of the sake brewery)
About Omoya Shuzo
Omoya Shuzo (重家酒造) is a sake brewery on Iki Island (壱岐島), Nagasaki Prefecture. “重家” is read “Omoya”. It was founded in 1924 and makes both barley shochu and sake. Its sake brands are “Yokoyama (よこやま)” and “Yokoyama Goju (横山五十)”.
The brewery is split between two sites. The head office in 印通寺浦, Ishida (石田町), is the shochu distillery, and the “Yokoyama Brewery” (横山蔵) in 池田西触, also in Ishida, is the sake brewery.
Regular tours of the Yokoyama Brewery are not announced on the brewery’s official website (checked on September 30, 2026). In May 2026, the Yokoyama Brewery held its first brewery open day.
Sake once more, on an island of barley shochu
Iki Island is an outlying island belonging to Nagasaki Prefecture in Kyushu. In the myth of the creation of the land in the “Kojiki (古事記)”, Japan’s old history book, it is said to be the fifth island born. The barley shochu made on the island, “Iki shochu (壱岐焼酎)”, was designated in 1995 as a production area under geographical indication, based on the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement.
Omoya Shuzo is a brewery founded by the first generation, Yokoyama Kakuzo (横山確蔵). Since around its founding, it sold both sake and shochu. However, its sake making stopped once, in the generation of the current managers’ father.
Sake was brought back by two brothers. The elder brother, Yokoyama Yuzo (横山雄三), is chairman and the toji (the person responsible for brewing) for shochu, and the younger brother, Yokoyama Taizo (横山太三), is president and the toji for sake. The brewery launched “Junmai Daiginjo Yokoyama 50” in 2014, began building a sake brewery on the island in 2017, and completed the Yokoyama Brewery in 2018.
Water found by searching 20 sites
The location of the Yokoyama Brewery was decided by water. When building its sake brewery, the company investigated about 20 water sources on the island, found land with plenty of soft water suited to sake, and built the brewery there.
President Yokoyama Taizo talks about the search for water like this.
“We spent five years investigating as many as 20 sources of water on Iki Island, looking for the place with the best water. This is where we found it, at the very last. The most important thing for sake really is the water.”
「５年間かけて、この壱岐島の水を20カ所も調べ、一番いい水があるところを探しました。最後の最後に見つかったのがここなんです。日本酒って一番大事なのはやっぱり水なんですよ」 — Yokoyama Taizo (President and Representative Director, and sake toji, of Omoya Shuzo), Nagasaki Prefecture, “Nagaoshi (ながおし)” (published June 12, 2026)
The inside of the brewery is always kept at 5°C or below. The finished sake is bottled at a low temperature of minus 5°C or below, without letting it touch the air.
Work on using the island’s own rice is also under way. In 2021, the brewery grew “Gin no Sato (吟のさと)”, a Kyushu sake rice (rice suited to making sake), on Iki Island on a trial basis, and made a junmai daiginjo with that rice. Since 2024, Gin no Sato for sake has been grown in earnest on the island.
Yokoyama and Yokoyama Goju
What the brewery aims for is a sake for the first glass that goes with both Japanese and Western food. For many of its products, the brewery recommends drinking them chilled from a wine glass.
One of the products sold all year round is “Yokoyama Junmai Ginjo SILVER7 Namazume (生詰)”. 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 only rice used is Yamada Nishiki (山田錦). It should be stored refrigerated (5°C or below).
“Yokoyama Junmai Daiginjo Princess Michiko” is a sake made with yeast taken from the flowers of the rose variety “Princess Michiko”. It is a “junmai daiginjo”: made only from rice, rice koji and water, with more than half of the outer part of the rice polished away. With this product, Omoya Shuzo won the Grand Prix at the “7th Matsuo Taisha Sake-1 Grand Prix” (organized by the Matsuo Taisha Sake-1 Grand Prix Executive Committee) in April 2024. It is an event in which visitors taste each brewery’s sake and vote for the brewery they liked best.
“Yokoyama” and “Yokoyama Goju” have many other products as well. The rice, yeast and brewing methods differ from product to product, and some products are limited by season or quantity. Please check the label for the type.
Visiting the brewery
Regular tours of the Yokoyama Brewery, where the sake is made, are not announced on the brewery’s official website (checked on September 30, 2026). If you would like a tour, please contact the brewery before visiting. The Yokoyama Brewery’s phone number is 0920-40-0061; it is open from 8:00 to 17:00, and closed on Sundays, during Obon and over the New Year.
On May 16 and 17, 2026, the Yokoyama Brewery held its first brewery open day, “YOKOYAMA Kura Fes 2026”. It was a paid, ticketed event where you could enjoy the brewery’s sake and shochu with food from restaurants on and off the island. The next event has not been announced (checked on September 30, 2026). Please check announcements on the brewery’s official website.
Getting to Iki Island
You reach Iki Island by boat or by plane (checked in September 2026; travel times are estimates).
- From Hakata Port, Fukuoka: About 1 hour 5 minutes by jetfoil (high-speed boat) to Ashibe Port, or about 1 hour 10 minutes to Gonoura Port. The car ferry takes about 2 hours 10 minutes to 2 hours 20 minutes
- From Karatsu Higashi Port, Saga Prefecture: About 1 hour 45 minutes by car ferry to Indoji Port in Ishida
- From Nagasaki Airport: About 30 minutes by plane to Iki Airport
From Hakata Station to Hakata Port is about 15 minutes by taxi. Please check boat times and service status with Kyushu Yusen, and the overall ways to reach the island on Iki Kanko Navi. It is safest to check your return service too.
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Omoya Shuzo’s sake
Omoya Shuzo does not publish a list of stockists or authorized retailers (tokuyakuten) (checked on September 30, 2026). Its sake is sold at authorized retailers (liquor stores that deal directly with the brewery) across Japan. If you contact the brewery by phone, it can introduce you to an authorized retailer near you.
The brewery’s official online shop sells only merchandise such as T-shirts and aprons. Sake and shochu are not sold in the online shop.
At “はせがわ酒店 グランスタ東京店”, a liquor store inside Tokyo Station, a tasting and sales event for Omoya Shuzo’s sake and shochu was held from September 18 to 23, 2026. Please check with the store whether it carries the sake at other times.
Before you buy
- “Yokoyama” and “Yokoyama Goju” include several products, and the ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product. Please check the label for the type.
- The brewery marks many products as requiring refrigeration (5°C or below). If you will be carrying them around for a long time, take care to keep them cool.
- 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.
- 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 | 重家酒造株式会社 (Omoya Shuzo Brewery, Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1924 (the 13th year of the Taisho era) |
| Representative | President and Representative Director Yokoyama Taizo (横山太三) |
| Address (sake brewery) | Yokoyama Brewery: 〒811-5224 長崎県壱岐市石田町池田西触545-1 Open in Google Maps |
| Address (head office and shochu distillery) | 〒811-5214 長崎県壱岐市石田町印通寺浦200 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | Yokoyama Brewery 0920-40-0061 / head office 0920-44-5002 (both 8:00–17:00; closed on Sundays, during Obon and over the New Year) |
| Main brands | Yokoyama (よこやま) / Yokoyama Goju (横山五十) |
| Other products | Iki shochu (such as ちんぐ and 雪洲) |
| Official website | https://www.omoyashuzo.com/ (English version available) |
| Brewery tours | Not announced (checked on September 30, 2026) |
| Sales at the brewery | Not published |
| List of stockists | Not published (authorized retailers near you are introduced by phone; checked on September 30, 2026) |
| English support | The official website has an English version. English support by phone or on tours is not published |