Tsuchida Shuzo (土田酒造株式会社)
Tsuchida Shuzo is a family-run sake brewery in Kawaba Village, Gunma, brewing sake entirely with the kimoto method from table rice that is polished only lightly. It was founded in 1907.
What kind of brewery is Tsuchida Shuzo?
The first head, Mohachi Tsuchida, moved from Niigata to Kawaba and started a brewery in Numata after his sake gained a good reputation. The second head, Kotaro, improved quality with better ingredients and began selling the Homare Kokko brand. The brewery moved to its present site in Kawaba in 1992. Since 2008 the sixth head has shifted to kimoto brewing, house yeast and minimal rice polishing.
- Ingredients
- Uses table rice rather than sake rice, polished as little as possible, basically Gunma-grown.
- Water
- Brewing water is subsurface flow from Mt. Hotaka, used without carbon filtration or adjustment.
- Style
- All sake is made only from rice, water, koji and microbes, entirely with kimoto.
Can you visit Tsuchida Shuzo?
- Tours
Free brewery tours are by reservation; individual visitors get a guided visit of about 15 minutes with tasting, and groups apply by form. Open 10:00 to 16:00 (last entry 15:30), closed Thursdays for now.
- Shop
The on-site shop offers tastings; the restaurant is closed.
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: tsuchidasake.jp
Japan Sake Awards
A prize-winner in 1 of the 9 contests from brewing year 2017 to 2025.
- Prize (nyusho)土田PDF
Source: the prize lists of the Japan Sake Awards (National Research Institute of Brewing and Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association). Brewing year 2019 had no final judging, so no gold prizes.