Sake brewery visit: Sakai Sake Brewery known as Gokyo in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi prefecture

We had an opportunity to visit Sakai Sake Brewery, known for the brand Gokyo in Iwakuni city Yamaguchi prefecture in December 2024.

Sakai Sake Brewery, located in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, is a historic sake brewery founded in 1869 (Meiji 2).

It mainly produces sake, and is particularly known for its representative brand “Gokyo."

The name “Gokyo" comes from the five-arch bridge of the scenic “Kintai Bridge," a symbol of Iwakuni City.

Sakai Sake Brewery uses Iwakuni’s pure water and locally grown rice to make sake that is rooted in the local area.

The underground water of the Nishiki River is used as the brewing water, which gives the sake a soft and clear taste.

We were greeted the head brewer Toji, Mr. Nakama and he showed us around by the brewery.
His explanation was very thorough and easy to understand.

After the tour of the brewery, a hot sake pot was prepared for the tasting, and Mr. Nakama made the perfect hot sake.

The hot sake was absolutely delicious.

Also, the sake brewed in the wooden barrels we saw earlier during our tour of the brewery was amazing!

We are very grateful to the people at the brewery for taking the time to kindly guide us around despite their busy schedule.