Who will enjoy this brewery
- People who want to tour, with guidance in English, a brewery you can visit as a day trip from Tokyo by Shinkansen (high-speed rail) (tours are held for a limited period, from October 2026 to the end of March 2027; reservations are given priority)
- People traveling to Echigo-Yuzawa (越後湯沢) who want to taste and shop at a brewery shop within walking distance of the station
- People looking for sake that is light and clean to drink
About Shirataki Shuzo
Shirataki Shuzo (白瀧酒造) is a brewery in Yuzawa (南魚沼郡湯沢町), Niigata Prefecture. It was founded in 1855 (Ansei 2). Its main brand is “Jozen Mizunogotoshi (上善如水)”, and it also makes “Minatoya Tosuke (湊屋藤助)”, “Uonuma (魚沼)” and others.
The brewery is a short walk from the east exit of JR Echigo-Yuzawa Station (越後湯沢駅). From October to the end of March, it runs paid brewery tours, with priority given to reservations (checked on October 27, 2026). Tours on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays are guided in English and Japanese. Next to the brewery is its brewery shop, “shop & taproom Flow”.
A brewery that began in a post town on the Mikuni Kaido
Echigo-Yuzawa is a town at the foot of the mountains that lie between Tokyo and the Sea of Japan side. It is the town where Yasunari Kawabata’s novel “Snow Country (雪国)” is set, and in January the ground is covered with about 2–3 meters of snow.
In the Edo period, Yuzawa was an important point on the “Mikuni Kaido (三国街道)”, the road linking Echigo (越後, now Niigata Prefecture) and Edo (江戸, now Tokyo). Shirataki Shuzo’s sake making began in 1855, when Minatoya Tosuke served sake here to the travelers and merchants who came and went along the road. The brand “Minatoya Tosuke” is a junmai daiginjo named after this founder.
Today, Echigo-Yuzawa is a station about 90 minutes from Tokyo on the Joetsu Shinkansen. The brewery is in the town, within walking distance of the station.
Snowmelt water and “Jozen Mizunogotoshi”
The water the brewery uses for brewing is groundwater drawn from three wells on the brewery grounds. Snow that piles up in winter melts in spring, soaks into the ground and becomes groundwater over about 50 years. It is soft water suited to sake making, and the brewery uses it to brew all of its sake.
The brand name “Jozen Mizunogotoshi” comes from the words of the Chinese thinker Laozi (老子), and means “the best way to live is like water”. True to the name, the brewery’s ideal is sake like “water”, and it describes the snowmelt water that becomes its brewing water as follows (from Shirataki Shuzo’s official website).
“Snowmelt water is light, soft and faintly sweet.” (「雪どけの水は、かろやかで、やわらかく、ほんのりと甘い。」)
“Jozen Mizunogotoshi” comes in the following types.
- “Jozen Mizunogotoshi 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. Its alcohol content is between 14% and 15%, and the brewery recommends drinking it chilled
- “Jozen Mizunogotoshi Junmai Daiginjo” — made only from rice, rice koji and water, with half or more of the outer part of the rice polished away
- “Jozen Mizunogotoshi Junmai Ginjo Namazake” — bottled without heat pasteurization. It is shipped by refrigerated delivery
- “Jozen Mizunogotoshi Sparkling” — sake with bubbles
“Minatoya Tosuke Junmai Daiginjo” uses “Koshitanrei (越淡麗)”, a sake rice developed by Niigata Prefecture. The “Uonuma” junmai-shu is made entirely from rice grown in the Uonuma (魚沼) region. The rice and the rice polishing ratio differ from product to product, so please check the label for the type.
Visiting the brewery
Brewery tours (October to the end of March; priority to reservations; paid)
Shirataki Shuzo is running brewery tours from October 1, 2026 to the end of March 2027 (checked on October 27, 2026).
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Days | Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays: guided in English and Japanese / Tuesdays: guided by a kurabito (a brewery worker who makes the sake), in Japanese only |
| Time | Check-in from 10:00, departure at 10:15. About 1 hour. Once a day |
| Capacity | 6 people. Ages 10 and up (children under 10 cannot take part) |
| Fee | 2,500 yen per person (includes a tasting of limited sake and 3 tasting tokens). Pay on the day, on site (credit cards and e-money accepted) |
| Meeting place | The 2nd floor of the brewery shop “shop & taproom Flow” |
| Booking | Book online on the brewery shop’s official website. Bookings are accepted up to 1 hour before the start; after that, if there are places left, they are accepted at the shop’s register |
For the tour, you wear the white boots, cap and white coat that are lent to you. Necklaces, earrings, watches, cameras, mobile phones and anything else that might fall must be removed before you go in. The tour route has steep stairs, steps and slippery places, and the tour is not accessible by wheelchair.
At the brewery shop there is also a paid 30-minute “digital brewery tour (デジタル酒蔵見学ツアー)”, in which you see inside the brewery on video, and a blending workshop of about 2 hours held in English (you blend sake yourself to make a taste you like). Please check the fees on the booking page.
Brewery shop “shop & taproom Flow”
A brewery shop that opened next to the brewery on June 2, 2025. The former showroom closed on April 25, 2025.
- Opening hours: 9:30–16:30
- Closed: Wednesdays (when a Wednesday is a national holiday, the shop closes the next day). Open on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays
- Address: 〒949-6101 新潟県南魚沼郡湯沢町大字湯沢2633番1
- Phone: 025-775-7422
The shop stocks sake that can only be bought at the brewery, and skincare products made at the brewery. At the counter you can taste the standard sakes from a token-operated dispensing machine, and there are also premium sakes served by the glass. There is coffee made with the brewing water, soft drinks, and ice cream made with sake lees (sake kasu), so people who are driving and children can enjoy the shop too. You are free to fill your own bottle with the brewing water and take it home. If you are driving, please do not taste. In Japan, drunk driving is prohibited by law.
Getting there
- By train: About 90 minutes from Tokyo Station on the Joetsu Shinkansen. About 5 minutes on foot from the east exit of JR Echigo-Yuzawa Station (to the brewery shop)
- By car: About 2 km from Yuzawa Interchange on the 関越自動車道 expressway. You can use the parking in front of the brewery shop, or the parking lot on the head office grounds
Travel times are estimates (checked on October 27, 2026). Please check Shinkansen times on JR East’s official website.
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Shirataki Shuzo’s sake
The brewery does not publish a list of stockists (checked on October 27, 2026). The places where you can buy directly from the brewery are as follows.
| Where to buy | Details |
|---|---|
| Brewery shop “shop & taproom Flow” | Next to the brewery in Yuzawa. Some sake can only be bought here |
| The Shirataki Shuzo official shop | The brewery’s official online shop |
| The brewery’s stores on Rakuten Ichiba, Yahoo! Shopping and Amazon | The brewery’s own stores on each online marketplace, introduced on its official website |
Before you buy
- Some products, such as “Jozen Mizunogotoshi Junmai Ginjo Namazake”, are shipped refrigerated. Take care with the temperature when you carry them around.
- 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 Niigata Prefecture are gathered on our Niigata Prefecture page.
Brewery facts
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Brewery | 白瀧酒造株式会社 (Shirataki Shuzo; English company name Shirataki Sake Brewery Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1855 (Ansei 2) |
| Representative | 高橋晋太郎 |
| Address | 〒949-6101 新潟県南魚沼郡湯沢町大字湯沢2640番地 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 025-784-3443 (brewery shop 025-775-7422) |
| Main brands | Jozen Mizunogotoshi (上善如水), Minatoya Tosuke (湊屋藤助), Uonuma (魚沼) |
| Official website | https://www.jozen.co.jp/ (English: https://shiratakisake.com/ ) |
| Brewery tours | Available (October 2026 to the end of March 2027. Priority to reservations; paid; ages 10 and up. In English and Japanese on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. Checked on October 27, 2026) |
| Brewery shop | shop & taproom Flow (9:30–16:30, closed on Wednesdays. Checked on October 27, 2026) |
| List of stockists | Not published (checked on October 27, 2026) |
| English support | English official website available. Tours (Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays) and the workshop are guided in English |