Nihon Izumi Shuzo (日本泉酒造株式会社)
Nihon Izumi Shuzo is a sake brewery in Gifu City located in the basement of a building beside Gifu Station, brewing unpasteurized nama sake all year round and pressing it in a traditional wooden vat.
What kind of brewery is Nihon Izumi Shuzo?
The brewery began in the last years of the Edo period at Chayashinden in Mino Province and moved to its present Kano Shimizu-cho site in 1877. It burned down in the 1945 Gifu air raid, was incorporated as a company in 1948, and opened a new plant in 1950. In 2002, because of urban redevelopment, it built a new building with underground storage and began year-round brewing in the basement. Two brothers now carry on the work.
- Water
- Brewed with Nagara River subterranean water from the Shimizu-cho area.
- Style
- Pressed slowly in a traditional wooden vat for a smooth, clean sake. Uses the stable underground temperature to brew throughout the year.
Can you visit Nihon Izumi Shuzo?
- Tours
Tours last about 30 minutes, Monday to Friday from 9:30 to 16:00, at 3,000 yen including tax per person. Contact by phone is required.
- Tasting & food
A tasting and sake lees souvenir are included. Closed weekends, holidays and year-end.
Hours and booking rules change, so check before you go. Official website
Compiled with AI from public pages, mainly the brewery’s own site (not yet checked by the brewery)Sources: nihonizumi.co.jp
Japan Sake Awards
A prize-winner in 1 of the 9 contests from brewing year 2017 to 2025.
- Prize (nyusho)日本泉PDF
Source: the prize lists of the Japan Sake Awards (National Research Institute of Brewing and Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association).