Okayama

Sake in Okayama

Okayama Prefecture lies in the Chugoku region and faces the Seto Inland Sea to the south. In the north, the Chugoku Mountains separate it from the region along the Sea of Japan (山陰地方), and in the south spreads the Okayama Plain, formed by three large rivers, the 吉井川, 旭川 and 高梁川. It was once divided into three provinces: Bizen, Bitchu and 美作. The list of breweries of the Okayama Sake Brewers Association shows 37 breweries in the prefecture (as of October 2026). In the one year from July 2024 to June 2025, sake was made at 27 places in the prefecture.

Rice and water support this sake. “Omachi,” a rice variety suited to sake brewing (shuzo kotekimai), was developed through repeated selection from ears of rice that a farmer from what is now 雄町 in 中区, Okayama City, found in 1859 on his way home from a pilgrimage to Hoki Daisen (伯耆大山, in Tottori Prefecture). In 1908 it became a recommended variety of Okayama Prefecture. Almost all of the Omachi grown in 2024 was grown in Okayama Prefecture. For water, underground water from the three rivers is used for sake brewing. Most of it is soft water or slightly soft, medium-soft water.

The people who have made the sake are the “Bitchu toji,” a group of toji (master brewers). Bitchu is the old provincial name for the west of the prefecture, and many in the group come from its southwest. It is said that they became known by the name “Bitchu toji” in the 文化 era at the beginning of the 19th century; the Bitchu Toji Association was formed in 1899, and in 1924 it had 540 members. At the 1st National Sake Competition (全国清酒品評会) in 1907, sake from Okayama won an award of excellence. Okayama Prefecture and the Okayama Sake Brewers Association designate restaurants that always serve special designation sake (ginjo-shu, junmai-shu and honjozo-shu) made in the prefecture as “おかやま　うま酒処.”

Brewery map

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