Who will enjoy this brewery
- People who want to plan their trip around the rice-planting experience in June or the rice-harvesting experience in October, and visit the sake-rice fields and the brewery (Heiwa Shuzo does not accept brewery tours at other times)
- People who want to drop in at a shop run by the brewery in Wakayama City, Tokyo or Osaka and drink its sake
- People interested in sake made from rice suited to sake making that the brewery’s own people grow themselves
About Heiwa Shuzo
Heiwa Shuzo (平和酒造) is a sake brewery in 溝ノ口, Kainan (海南市), Wakayama Prefecture (和歌山県). It was founded in 1928 (the 3rd year of the Showa era). Its sake brand is “KID (紀土)”, and it also makes the umeshu “鶴梅” and the beer “平和クラフト”.
For hygiene reasons, the brewery does not accept brewery tours at ordinary times. It also has no permanent place for tasting at the brewery (checked on September 30, 2026). You can tour the brewery only when you join the rice-planting experience in June or the rice-harvesting experience in October, held every year.
The head office does not sell sake, and the brewery does not sell by mail order either. The places where you can taste KID are the shops run by the brewery: in a station building in Wakayama City, in Nihonbashi Kabutocho in Tokyo, and in Namba in Osaka.
KID received a gold award at the Zenkoku Shinshu Kanpyokai (National New Sake Competition) for the Reiwa 7 brewing year (National Research Institute of Brewing and Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association).
A rice-growing area in the mountains, where the water of Koyasan flows
Wakayama Prefecture is in the south of Honshu and is known for growing fruit such as mandarin oranges, ume plums and persimmons. Within the prefecture, 溝ノ口, where the brewery stands, has long been a land where rice growing thrives. The village has many narrow lanes, and ditches that bring water to the rice fields run along the roads.
溝ノ口 is part of an area that has long been called “野上谷”. Because it is a basin surrounded by mountains on all sides, it gets very cold in the mornings and evenings. Underground water (water flowing underground) from Koyasan (高野山) runs beneath it, and well water is plentiful. This land, with rice, low temperatures and plentiful water, once had nearly 10 sake breweries.
About 3 kilometers west of the brewery is Kameike (亀池), a large reservoir. It was built in 1710 by 井沢弥惣兵衛, who was born in 溝ノ口 village, to bring water to the rice fields. Thanks to this pond, water came to reach the fields of the 10 surrounding villages. Today it is a park with a 4-kilometer walking path around it, and a cherry blossom festival is held from late March to early April, when about 2,000 cherry trees bloom.
Where the name “Heiwa” comes from
Heiwa Shuzo was founded in 1928 by 山本保. The 山本 family is a family that has kept a temple for generations, and from the name of the temple at the time, the family is still sometimes called by the house name “超願寺”.
During the Second World War, the brewery stopped making sake on government orders, so that it could take in schoolchildren evacuated from the cities, among other reasons. Even after the war, the brewery was not allowed to restart its license to make sake for some time. The second generation, 山本保正, went to the National Diet and gave a speech calling for breweries that had suspended operations to be allowed to restart. When the restart was finally allowed, he named the brewery “Heiwa” (peace), with the wish to make sake in a peaceful age.
Even after restarting, the brewery continued to struggle. Until the Showa 60s (1985–1989), its business was mainly “okeuri” (桶売り), selling sake without bottling it to large sake companies in Kyoto, and it sold only a little under its own brand. In time, wanting to make the sake it wanted to make, the brewery began to focus on selling under its own name.
The president and representative director, Mr. 山本典正, writes about this change as follows:
“We used to follow a mass-production model too, but from 2008 we changed to a style that pursues quality.”
「以前は当社も量産型でやっていましたが、2008年からは質を追求するスタイルに転換しました。」
— 山本典正 (President and Representative Director, Heiwa Shuzo), from “Recruitment” (採用情報) on Heiwa Shuzo’s official website
Yamada Nishiki grown by the brewery’s people
At Heiwa Shuzo, the toji (master brewer: the person in charge of making sake) and the kurabito (brewery workers: craftspeople who work at the brewery), who make sake in winter, plant sake-rice seedlings in early summer and look after the rice fields until the harvest. This effort began when the shrinking number of people to take on farming in the area coincided with the wishes of a young kurabito from a rice-farming family.
All koji (steamed rice on which koji mold has been grown) is made by hand.
The Yamada Nishiki grown in the brewery’s rice fields together with participants in the rice-planting and rice-harvesting experiences is used for a series of sake called “あがら”.
KID also has limited-quantity products, and the ingredients and the rice polishing ratio (seimai buai) differ from product to product. Please check the label for the type.
Visiting the brewery
Rice-planting and rice-harvesting experiences
Every year, Heiwa Shuzo holds a Yamada Nishiki rice-planting experience in June and a rice-harvesting experience in October. They take place on the head office grounds in 溝ノ口, Kainan. Any adult can take part, and the afternoon program includes a brewery tour. Children under junior high school age can take part if each child is accompanied by at least one guardian.
The 2026 rice-planting experience (June 21) was as follows:
- Joining for the morning only (rice-planting experience and lunch) cost 3,000 yen; joining for the whole day (including the afternoon brewery tour and other activities, and a barbecue) cost 6,000 yen
- Morning-only participants who wished could join a brewery tour after registration
- The fee is paid in advance by credit card through PayPal when you apply
- Bring clothes that can get dirty, a towel and a change of clothes. A change of clothes is required, so that mud is not brought into the brewery
- It is not possible to join for the brewery tour only or the barbecue only
The 2026 rice-harvesting experience was announced in September as being held on October 18. For each year’s dates and details, please check the announcements on the brewery’s official website. Both experiences may be canceled or changed depending on the weather.
Shops run by the brewery
The brewery runs the following three shops. All of them carry KID, 鶴梅 and 平和クラフト.
- 平和酒店 (Wakayama City) — Heiwa Shuzo’s first showcase shop. Besides selling products, it has a bar space where you can talk with the people who make the drinks. It is on the 2nd floor of “キーノ和歌山”, a station building directly connected to 南海和歌山市駅 station. Opening hours are 11:00–20:00 (last order for food and drinks 19:30), and it closes on the same days as キーノ和歌山. Cash is not accepted; only cashless payment
- 平和どぶろく兜町醸造所 (Nihonbashi Kabutocho, Tokyo) — Opened in June 2022, a brewpub (a bar that is also a brewery) where the makers themselves serve freshly made doburoku (a drink finished without straining the moromi). It also sells products. Opening hours are 13:00–22:30 on weekdays, 12:00–22:30 on Saturdays, and 12:00–21:00 on Sundays and the last day of consecutive holidays; there are no regular closing days. Cash is not accepted; only cashless payment
- 平和どぶろく難波醸造所 (Namba, Osaka) — A shop in the same style as the Kabutocho one, in the West Zone on the 1st basement floor of Osaka Takashimaya. It closes on the same days as Takashimaya. Please check the opening hours and payment methods on the shop’s page
Opening hours and conditions were checked on September 30, 2026.
Getting there
Address: 〒640-1172 和歌山県海南市溝ノ口119
- By train and bus: The nearest station is JR Kainan Station. From the station, take a taxi, or take the “オレンジバス” of the 大十バス bus company, get off at the “オークワ海南野上店” stop and walk. Please check bus times on the 大十バス website. It is a route with few buses, so it is a good idea to check the last buses for both the outward and return journeys
- By car: Head from the 海南東インターチェンジ interchange on the 阪和自動車道 expressway
Opening days and tour arrangements may change. Please check the brewery’s official information before visiting.
Where to buy Heiwa Shuzo’s sake
Heiwa Shuzo does not sell at its head office or by mail order. KID is sold at liquor stores in various areas and at online stores run by liquor stores.
The brewery does not publish a list of stockists (checked on September 30, 2026). If you want to know a stockist near you, contact the brewery through its inquiry form, writing the city, ward, town or village where you live (or are staying).
All three of the “Shops run by the brewery” above carry KID. At 平和酒店 in Wakayama City and the Kabutocho brewery in Tokyo, you can also buy products.
Before you buy
- Whether a store carries the sake, and its stock, differ from store to store. Limited and seasonal products may not arrive, so please check with the store before visiting.
- KID has many products, and the ingredients and brewing methods differ from product to product. Please check the label for the type.
- 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 | 平和酒造株式会社 (Heiwa Shuzo Co., Ltd.) |
| Founded | 1928 (the 3rd year of the Showa era) |
| Representative | President and Representative Director 山本典正 |
| Address | 〒640-1172 和歌山県海南市溝ノ口119 Open in Google Maps |
| Phone | 073-487-0189 (fax 073-487-4641) |
| Main brand | KID (紀土) |
| Official website | https://www.heiwashuzou.co.jp/ |
| Brewery tours | Not available at ordinary times (participants in the June rice-planting and October rice-harvesting experiences get a tour) |
| Brewery shop | None at the head office. Sold at “平和酒店” in Wakayama City and “平和どぶろく兜町醸造所” in Tokyo. “平和どぶろく難波醸造所” in Osaka also carries KID |
| List of stockists | Not published (checked on September 30, 2026). Guidance through the inquiry form |
| English support | Not published |