Japanese Whisky - Distilleries

Distilleries

There are currently around ten whisky distilleries in Japan, these include:

• Yamazaki: owned by Suntory, located between Osaka/Kyoto on the main island of Honshū.
• Hakushu: also owned by Suntory, located in Yamanashi Prefecture on the main island of Honshū.
• Yoichi Distillery: owned by Nikka, located on the Northern island of Hokkaidō. Nikka is a part of Asahi Breweries.
• Sendai / Miyagikyo: also Nikka, located to the North of the main island, near the city of Sendai.
• Fuji-Gotemba: owned by Kirin, located at the foot of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka.
• Karuizawa: owned by Mercian (a part of Kirin), located near to the town of Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture on the main island of Honshū.
• Hanyu: located in Saitama prefecture near Tokyo on the main island. Sometimes also referred to as Golden Horse or Chichibu. Closed in 2000.
• Chichibu: located near Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture. This is the new Chichibu distillery, founded by Ichiro Akuto, grandson of the distiller at Hanyu. It opened in 2008.
• Shinshu: owned by Hombo, located in Nagano Prefecture on the main island of Honshū.
• White Oak: owned by Eigashima Shuzou, located in Hyogo on the main island of Honshū.