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KIGEN Japanese Sake Fest Debuts in Nara: 56 Brewers Across 3 Days, May 29–31

KAMPAI Editorial

KIGEN Japanese Sake Fest Debuts in Nara: 56 Brewers Across 3 Days, May 29–31

Nara — the birthplace of seishu (refined Japanese sake) — will host the inaugural KIGEN Japanese Sake Fest from May 29 to 31 at the Nara Prefectural Convention Center. Organized by Kazuya Nobori, fourth-generation owner of Nobori Sake Shop in Tenri, the festival's tagline is "From the Origin, to the World."

According to the official exhibitor list, 56 producers will pour: 15 sake breweries from Nara Prefecture, 27 sake breweries from elsewhere in Japan, 7 craft sake (kurafuto sake) producers, and 7 Nara-based winery/brewery/distillery operations. It's not just a sake festival — wine, shochu, and beer are part of the lineup too.

All 15 Nara Breweries, Across All 3 Days

The local Nara contingent is unusually complete. Pouring all three days: Kaze no Mori (Yucho Shuzo), Mimuro Sugi (Imanishi Shuzo), Umenoyado, Hanatomoe (Miyoshino Jozo), Yatagarasu (Kitaoka Honten), Kuramoto, Choryo, Hoshuku (Nara Toyosawa Shuzo), Shinomine (Chiyo Shuzo), and Inanohana (Inada Shuzo). Rotating in across the days: Okura (Okura Honke), Harushika (Imanishi Seibei Shoten), Hyakurakumon (Katsuragi Shuzo), Shojo (Kitamura Shuzo), and Suiryu (Kubo Honke).

Getting 15 Nara breweries into one room is itself a rare event.

27 Breweries from Across Japan, Plus a Full Roster of Craft Sake

From outside Nara: Tamagawa (Kyoto), Kozaemon (Gifu), Furei (Tottori), Akishika (Osaka), Okuharima and Nihondamashi (Hyogo), Iwakikotobuki (Fukushima/Yamagata), Gozenshu and Kamikokoro (Okayama), Abe (Niigata), Sanshoraku (Toyama), Narumi (Chiba), Hokushinryu (Nagano), Hiraizumi (Akita), Morishima (Ibaraki), Sanrensei (Shiga), Giko (Aichi), Bunkajin (Kochi), Sakaya Hachibei (Mie), Koeigiku (Saga), Shikishima (Aichi), Kenshin (Niigata), Shichida (Saga), Tsuki no I (Ibaraki), Tenkanishiki (Mie), Wakakoma (Tochigi), and Joukigen (Yamagata).

The craft sake lineup is what stands out. HOBO and haccoba (Fukushima), LIBROM (Fukuoka), Hiraroku Jozo (Iwate), Inato Agave (Akita), LINNÉ (Kyoto), and Pukupuku Jozo (Fukushima) — essentially every major craft sake producer working under the new "other brewed alcohol" license, gathered in one place.

Add to that seven Nara wineries, breweries, and a distillery: Kitani Wine, CHORYO, FARMENTARY, THERAPYNIA, Yamato Distillery, Nara Brewing, and Yamato Brewing.

Bottles are bought at booths via digital tickets and shipped to your home — you taste at the venue, the boxes arrive later.

Pairing Lunch Shows (May 30 & 31)

Two ticketed lunch courses, by two of Nara's most-discussed kitchens.

  • May 30: akordu — chef Hiroshi Kawashima. Five courses with five sakes. ¥8,500. 36 seats.
  • May 31: Ata plus — chef Yasuharu Kobayashi. Five courses with five sakes. ¥8,500. 36 seats.

akordu reads Nara's local produce through a modern Spanish lens; Ata plus is the newer venture from the team behind Ebisu's Ata. Both lunches are separate tickets and seats are limited.

For the kickoff night on May 29, there's also a hot sake (kanzake) flight — four warm sakes paired with four small dishes — at ¥3,300, 48 seats.

Talk Shows: Free Craft Sake Session, Plus a Bodaimoto Tasting

Two audience talks are scheduled.

  • May 30, 3:30–4:30 PM: Craft Sake Talk Show (free)
  • May 31, 3:00–4:00 PM: Bodaimoto Talk Show with limited tasting. ¥1,500, 48 seats.

Bodaimoto is the medieval starter-mash technique said to have originated at Shoryakuji Temple in Nara. Local brewers revived the method in modern times, and it has since spread to breweries across Japan. Hearing about its current state in the place where it began, sake in hand, is the kind of program only Nara could put together.

Tickets

Pre-festival night (May 29, 4:00–8:00 PM) and the main festival days (May 30 & 31, 11:00 AM–5:00 PM) have separate ticket sets.

  • Advance Starter: ¥3,600 (15 tickets for the kickoff night, 10 for main days)
  • Advance Plus: ¥5,100 (25 / 20 tickets)
  • Two-day Pass (Sat & Sun): ¥6,600 (20 tickets)
  • Door: Starter ¥4,200 / Plus ¥5,700
  • Top-up: 5 tickets ¥1,000, 11 ¥2,000, 17 ¥3,000

Tickets are sold via cloud-pass, linked from the official site.

The Nara Prefectural Convention Center is about a 10-minute walk from Kintetsu Shin-Omiya Station. The exhibitor list above is dated April 7 and may shift slightly before the festival. The official site and Instagram (@kigen_japanesesakefest) carry updates.

Fifty-six producers under one roof in Nara, for three days. From the origin, indeed.