Who will enjoy this brewery
- People who want to start drinking sake with a brand that has authorized retailers across Japan
- People looking for a free brewery tour and tasting they can drop in on without a booking (the tour is in Japanese only)
- People traveling in Niigata from winter to spring who want to see the sake-making process (booking required)
- People who, besides sake, also want to see a residence from the early Showa period that blends Japanese and Western styles (April to November)
About Asahi Shuzo
“Kubota (久保田)” is a sake brand made by Asahi Shuzo (朝日酒造) in Nagaoka (長岡市), Niigata Prefecture. The brewery and the brand have different names, so it is easy to remember “Kubota” when you are in a store and “Asahi Shuzo” when you visit the brewery. It is a different company from DASSAI Inc. (株式会社獺祭; formerly Asahi Shuzo, 旭酒造), which makes “Dassai” in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Asahi Shuzo began in 1830 as a small sake brewery called “Kubotaya” in Asahi Village. The brand “Asahiyama (朝日山)”, named after Asahi, the place where the brewery stands, was born in the middle of the Meiji period (1868–1912) and has long been drunk locally in Niigata. The brewery became a joint-stock company in 1920 and took its current company name.
In 1985, the president at the time, Hirasawa Toru (平澤亨), and the factory manager, Shima Teiji (嶋悌司), released a new brand, “Kubota”, named after the brewery’s trade name at its founding. It was a time when the tastes of people living in cities were changing and local demand was falling. What they put forward was “tanrei karakuchi” (light and dry). “Tanrei” means clean and light, and “karakuchi” means dry, with restrained sweetness. The “karakuchi” of sake does not mean the heat of chili peppers or saltiness.
Snowmelt water and sake rice born in Niigata
The Koshiji (越路) area of Nagaoka, where the brewery stands, is a place surrounded by wooded hills with rice fields spreading out. The snow that piles up in winter melts in spring, soaks into the layers of the earth, and is filtered to become underground water veins. Asahi Shuzo pumps up that underground water and uses it as its brewing water. It is soft water with low hardness.
The rice is mainly “Gohyakumangoku (五百万石)”, a sake rice born in Niigata Prefecture. The brewery holds up the idea of “nojo ikkan” (農醸一貫): handling everything from growing the rice to making the sake as one continuous process. In 1990 it set up an agricultural corporation, Asahi Noken (有限会社あさひ農研), and grows sake rice itself. Much of the Gohyakumangoku used for Kubota is also grown by contract farmers in the area.
The brewers belong to the tradition of the “Echigo toji” (越後杜氏), the group of toji (master brewers; the people who oversee all of a brewery’s sake making) from Niigata. At Asahi Shuzo, staff in charge of production management capture the toji’s experience-based judgments as data, and research on rice and yeast is also carried out at the research center inside the brewery.
Kubota’s main products
Kubota is a brand that includes many products with different special designations (tokutei meisho: categories based on the ingredients and how much the rice is polished). Please check the label for the type. The three representative products are as follows.
- Kubota Senju (千寿) — A “ginjo”: sake with 40% or more of the outer part of the rice polished away and a small amount of brewer’s alcohol added. It is a ginjo sake with a gentle aroma and a clean, light taste, made to go with meals.
- Kubota Hyakuju (百寿) — A “tokubetsu honjozo” with 40% of the outer part of the rice polished away and a small amount of brewer’s alcohol added. It is positioned as the “basic form” of Kubota, with a restrained aroma and a taste that feels dry after you drink it.
- Kubota Manju (萬寿) — A “junmai daiginjo”: sake made only from rice, rice koji and water, with more than half of the outer part of the rice polished away. A showy aroma and a weighty taste overlap, and the umami, sweetness and acidity are in harmony.
Visiting the brewery
Asahi Shuzo accepts brewery tours. The 20-minute course, held all year, is free and needs no booking. The tour is in Japanese only, and guests who do not speak Japanese are asked to come with an interpreter (all checked on September 30, 2026).
20-minute tour course (all year; no booking needed)
| Contents | An introduction in the entrance hall, an explanation of sake making and the products, and a tasting |
| Tour times | 11:00 / 12:00 / 13:00 / 14:00 |
| Duration | About 20–30 minutes |
| Price | Free |
| Registration | On the day, at “Shuraku no Sato Asahiyama (酒楽の里 あさひ山)”, the shop in front of the brewery. Groups of 10 or more must book |
| Closed | The third Saturday of every month, and the New Year holidays |
60-minute tour course (December to late April; booking required)
This course, held only during the sake-making season, shows the production process. You check the aroma and feel of koji, observe the moromi (fermenting mash), and taste freshly pressed genshu (undiluted sake: sake whose alcohol content has not been adjusted by adding water).
| Schedule | 13:30 on Mondays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays (not held during the New Year holidays) |
| Duration | About 60 minutes |
| Price | Free |
| Booking | Accepted from 60 days before the tour date on the official booking page |
| Group size and age | 1–15 people. Upper elementary school students and older |
You cannot drink alcohol before the tour. You wear a white coat and cap, and are asked to avoid accessories, perfume and hair products. Photography is not allowed in the production areas. The tour uses stairs, and waterproof shoes are recommended in the snowy season.
Shouraikaku (April to November)
Shouraikaku (松籟閣) is a residence built in the early Showa period by Hirasawa Yonosuke (平澤與之助), the founder of Asahi Shuzo. It is a Japanese house that incorporates stained glass, round windows and chandeliers, and in 2018 it was designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. It is open from April to November, 11:00–15:00, closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and admission is free. On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, a guide shows visitors around. It may close for events or bad weather (checked on September 30, 2026).
Shop and restaurant
“Shuraku no Sato Asahiyama”, in front of the brewery, is Asahi Shuzo’s brewery-owned store. Besides free tastings, there are also paid tastings where you can compare several sake. It is open 10:00–18:00 and closed on New Year’s Day. The restaurant next door, “Asahiyama Hotaru-an (あさひ山 蛍庵)”, is open 11:00–17:30 (lunch until 15:30; all checked on September 30, 2026). You can use them without taking the tour.
Getting there
Address: 〒949-5494 新潟県長岡市朝日880-1
- By train: A 15-minute walk from Raigoji Station on the JR East Shin’etsu Main Line. Trains are infrequent, so please check the timetable of JR East for both directions
- By taxi: About 30 minutes from JR Nagaoka Station, where the Joetsu Shinkansen (high-speed rail) stops
- By car: About 15 minutes from the Nagaoka Interchange on the Kan-Etsu Expressway. There is parking for about 20 cars
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Asahi Shuzo’s sake
You can search for authorized retailers by prefecture in the brewery’s “list of stores“. The brewery has three brewery-owned stores, which sell Kubota, Asahiyama and other products (checked on September 30, 2026).
- Shuraku no Sato Asahiyama (in front of the brewery) — See “Shop and restaurant” above
- Shuraku no Sato Asahiyama Nagaoka Ekinaka (酒楽の里 あさひ山 長岡駅ナカ店) (1st floor of CoCoLo Nagaoka, the station building of JR Nagaoka Station) — 10:00–19:30. It has a tasting counter
- Kubota NIIGATA (久保田 NIIGATA) (2nd floor of CoCoLo Niigata at JR Niigata Station) — 10:00–20:30
The two station stores are closed on New Year’s Day and on the station buildings’ closing days (twice a year).
The official online store, “Asahi Shuzo Online Shop“, does not ship abroad. You also cannot buy for resale or buy using an overseas forwarding service.
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 | 朝日酒造株式会社 (Asahi-Shuzo Sake Brewing Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1830 (the first year of the Tenpo era). Incorporated as a joint-stock company in 1920 |
| Representative | President and Representative Director Hosoda Yasushi (細田康) |
| Address | 〒949-5494 新潟県長岡市朝日880-1 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 0258-92-3181 (main) / tours 0258-92-5578 (weekdays 10:00–17:00) |
| Main brands | Kubota (久保田) / Asahiyama (朝日山) |
| Official website | https://www.asahi-shuzo.co.jp/ (English: https://www.asahi-shuzo.co.jp/global/en/ ) |
| Tours | Available (20-minute course: no booking needed, free / 60-minute course: December to late April, booking required, free). Tours are in Japanese only |
| Brewery-owned stores | Yes (Shuraku no Sato Asahiyama / its Nagaoka Ekinaka store / Kubota NIIGATA) |