Japanese Whisky Distillery Atlas by Prefecture

Last fact-checked: 2026-07-26

Representative whisky checked: 2026-07-26

Edited by: Koji Hara and the Bacchus Global editorial team
Dataset: 172 records across 41 prefectures; 171 records are eligible for the public tables below

Status legend

• Operating confirmed (102): Official or public evidence supports whisky distillation at the recorded location.
• Licensed site — operation unconfirmed (64): A relevant licence location is recorded, but current whisky distillation at that exact address has not been confirmed.
• Officially announced / under construction (4): An official source describes a plan or construction; the site is not presented as operating.
• Former licensed site — relocated (1): The old location is retained to prevent it being mistaken for the current operating site.
• Editorial hold (0): Four records formerly held for editorial review now have explicit naming, address or link disclosures.
• Excluded trial licence (1): Trial licences are outside the public atlas.

The counts are a status snapshot of this research dataset, not a claim that Japan has 172 operating distilleries.

Representative whisky and release stage

The 102 operating-confirmed records include one representative whisky or public release stage verified from official or primary information as of 26 July 2026. Product names link to the supporting source. This is not a complete product catalogue.

• Publicly released: A representative mature whisky released to the public was confirmed.
• Newborn / new pot: A public product was confirmed, but its age or labelling keeps it separate from mature whisky.
• No public whisky release confirmed: The site’s operation is supported, but no named publicly released whisky was confirmed in official information.

A representative name may be a principal brand of the site’s operator. Its inclusion does not establish that every component spirit was distilled at that site or that every related product meets the JSLMA labelling standard.

Display and evidence notes

• JW-LIC-027: “Omitama Barrel House” is a Bacchus Global editorial English rendering of the official Japanese name 小美玉バレルハウス.
• JW-LIC-106 and JW-LIC-110: “Taka Town licence site” and “Tamba City licence site” are Bacchus Global editorial location qualifiers. They are not official facility names, and operation at either exact address remains unconfirmed.
• JW-LIC-120: Masuda Distillery is a Bacchus Global editorial English rendering of the official Japanese name 益田蒸溜所. The table uses the National Tax Agency’s registered manufacturing address, 2-13 Honmachi. Migita Honten’s official company page lists 3-30 Honmachi as its company contact address; the two addresses are not merged.
• JW-LIC-123: Kibi Distillery is a Bacchus Global editorial English rendering of the official Japanese name 吉備蒸溜所. The table uses the National Tax Agency’s registered manufacturing address, 372-33. Yoikigen’s website lists 372-1 as its corporate contact address; that address is not substituted for the licensed manufacturing site.
• JW-LIC-126: The public label is a Bacchus Global romanization of the registered entity with an editorial site qualifier; it is not an official facility name. The operator’s corporate page records the whisky licence and equipment, but its HTTPS certificate did not match the host on 24 July 2026. The public Evidence link therefore points to the National Tax Agency record only.
• JW-LIC-172: Gekko Shuzo is a Bacchus Global romanization of the registered legal name 月光酒造, and Okinawa licence site is an editorial location qualifier. Current whisky distillation at this address remains unconfirmed. This record is separate from Gakkogawa Distillery in Yamagata.

Operating confirmed

The following 102 records have operating evidence and no unresolved publication hold. “Operating confirmed” describes the recorded site, not the compliance status of every product associated with it.

Hokkaido

Iwate

Miyagi

Yamagata

Fukushima

Ibaraki

Tochigi

Gunma

Saitama

Chiba

Kanagawa

Niigata

Toyama

Ishikawa

Yamanashi

Nagano

Gifu

Shizuoka

Aichi

Mie

Shiga

Kyoto

Osaka

Hyogo

Nara

Wakayama

Tottori

Shimane

Okayama

Hiroshima

Tokushima

Fukuoka

Nagasaki

Kumamoto

Oita

Miyazaki

Kagoshima

Okinawa

Officially announced or under construction

These locations have official planning or construction evidence. They are not counted as operating distilleries.

Ibaraki

Kanagawa

Hiroshima

Kumamoto

Licensed sites whose operation remains unconfirmed

These records may be described only as licence locations. A licence, product, bottling line, maturation facility or other alcohol operation is not treated as proof of current whisky distillation at the exact address.

Hokkaido

Iwate

Ibaraki

Tochigi

Gunma

Tokyo

Kanagawa

Niigata

Yamanashi

Nagano

Gifu

Shizuoka

Aichi

Shiga

Kyoto

Osaka

Hyogo

Tottori

Ehime

Kochi

Fukuoka

Nagasaki

Kumamoto

Oita

Miyazaki

Kagoshima

Okinawa

Former licensed locations

Former locations remain visible only to explain a verified relocation. They are not included in the current operating-site count.

Aichi

Records not shown in the tables

One university trial-licence record is excluded. It remains in the internal 172-record audit trail so that the published totals can be reproduced. No record remains on editorial hold.

Method and corrections

Status decisions are made at address level. To report a correction, provide the record ID and an operator, government or other official source that identifies the location and activity. A status is not changed solely from an aggregator or map listing.

Read the complete methodology

Core sources

• National Tax Agency: new liquor-manufacturing licence holders
• Individual operator, municipal and other official evidence linked in each row