山梨県

Yamanashi

Sengabuchi pool in the Ojiro River gorge, Hokuto. A small waterfall at the back of a wooded ravine feeds a clear green pool, with large rocks rising from the water in the foreground — The Ojira River gorge in Hokuto City. Clear water flowing through the mountains of the Southern Alps forms deep pools among the rocks.TAKAO_Tsushima ／ CC BY 4.0 ／ Wikimedia Commons（resized to 1280 px on the long side）

Sake in Yamanashi

Yamanashi Prefecture lies in central Honshu and is a landlocked prefecture surrounded by high mountains. The Yamanashi Sake Brewers Cooperative has 12 member breweries that make sake and shochu (as of September 2026). In April 2021, “Yamanashi” was designated under the geographical indication (GI) system, which protects the names of sake-producing regions. Its condition is “a soft, clear and pure taste.” As you bring it to your lips, an aroma reminiscent of fruit rises, and umami and body from the rice spread across the tongue.

Water is what supports this taste. Yamanashi Prefecture is surrounded by mountains 2,000–3,000 m high, such as Mount Fuji, the Southern Alps (the Akaishi Mountains), Yatsugatake and Okuchichibu. Rain and snow that fall on the mountains are filtered naturally through layers of earth over many years and become light soft water with a moderate amount of minerals. The GI “Yamanashi” limits the water used for brewing to six water systems: the foot of the Southern Alps, the foot of Yatsugatake, the foot of the Chichibu Mountains, the northern foot of Mount Fuji, Fuji-Misaka, and the northern foot of the Misaka Mountains. Winters have a “sokobie” (a deep, penetrating cold) climate in which the lowest temperatures fall below freezing, and sake fermentation proceeds gently.

Records show that as of 1796, there was a sake brewer in each village, town and post town in Yamanashi. As for rice, “Hitogokochi,” a rice variety suited to sake brewing (shuzo kotekimai) developed in Nagano Prefecture, is also widely grown in Yamanashi, and its 2024 crop was the second largest after Nagano Prefecture. Among sake under the GI “Yamanashi,” sake that uses only rice harvested in the prefecture and water from the designated water systems, with no brewer's alcohol added, can carry a mark showing this.

Brewery map

Breweries by municipality (dot size shows the number of breweries)Featured breweries

Yamanashi Meijo 山梨銘醸Hokuto

The 14 breweries on our list are grouped by the municipality where they are located. Each dot marks a representative point of the municipality, not the brewery itself (featured breweries are shown at their actual locations). Locations are based on the address search of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan.

Featured breweries

Yamanashi Meijo 山梨銘醸Shichiken 七賢HokutoRead the article