Region: Hyogo

Hyogo prefecture is located in the center of Japan’s main island, Honshu. Kobe, its capital, is a busy port city known for its popular Chinatown, entertainment district and signature Kobe beef. Hyogo is also known as Japan’s sake kingdom! There are 130 sake breweries here, more than any other prefecture in Japan. Half of the 130 breweries here are concentrated in Nada, Hyogo. Nada has been the #1 sake brewing town in Japan since the Edo period for various reasons. It is the home of miyamizu water, a special mineral rich water with little to no iron, which flows down from Mt. Rokko into Nada. Other reasons include Hyogo’s ability to grow good quality sake rice as well as a very cold wind that blows through the region, called Rokko Oroshi. Hyogo is also known for its advanced rice polishing technology, as breweries here started using river-powered wheel mills to polish rice since the 1600s. Hyogo has the perfect conditions required to cultivate the king of sake brewing rice, Yamada Nishiki. Other main rice types cultivated here include Gohyakumangoku and Fuku no Hana. All Regions »