Kokuryu ─ The Black Dragon Beside Eiheiji

Audio Guide

Kokuryu — One Minute of Stillness

Brewed in the shadow of nine centuries of Zen

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Sit before drinking. Sake is a meditation, said the brewery's old master.

Soul of the Kura

Eight hundred years ago, the monk Dōgen
walked into a remote Echizen valley
and built a monastery dedicated to silence.
Eiheiji has practiced sōtō Zen there ever since.

The same valley grows the rice the brewery uses.
The same water table feeds the brewery's spring.
A bottle of Kokuryu carries that quiet —
not pretentiously, just structurally.

Characteristics

Founded 1804 in the village beside Eiheiji,
the great sōtō Zen monastery founded by Dōgen in 1244.
Eight generations of the Mizuno family — the seventh generation
introduced the now-famous "Daiginjo Ryu" line in 1975,
long before daiginjo was a commercial category.
Refined, layered, contemplative — sake brewed in the shadow of Zen.

Reasons to Visit

壱
Drink the sake of the Zen valley
Same water, same rice, same silence as the Eiheiji monastery.
弐
Spend a night at Eiheiji as shukubo
Wake at 4am for zazen meditation and a monk's breakfast — then visit the brewery in the afternoon.
参
See the Tasting Bar Ishidaya
The brewery's modern annex offers paired sake and Echizen cuisine flights — reservation only.
四
Pair with Kehi Jingu in Tsuruga
The first-rank shrine of ancient Echizen, with one of Japan's three great wooden torii.
五
Eat Echizen crab in winter
Fukui's famed snow crab — paired with Kokuryu Junmai Ginjo, an unmatched winter meal.

Tasting Etiquette

Visit the temple before the brewery.
Eiheiji predates Kokuryu by 560 years — the older comes first.
Sit silently for one breath before drinking.
A small Zen courtesy. The sake answers.
Use a thin-rim porcelain cup.
Echizen porcelain in particular flatters the brewery's structure.
Try Daiginjo Ryu at 14°C.
Below 10°C the layered structure flattens.
Drink slowly. Speak less.
A Kokuryu meal is built for fewer words and longer pauses.

Visit & Tasting

📍

Address

3-38 Matsuoka Kasuga, Eiheiji-cho, Yoshida-gun, Fukui 910-1133

🚄

Access

JR Hokuriku → Fukui → Echizen Tetsudo to Eiheiji-guchi

🕐

Hours

Tasting bar Ishidaya · 11:00–18:00

📅

Closed

Tuesday & Wednesday

🥢

Tasting

Tasting bar by reservation

📞

Reservation

Required for tasting bar

🇬🇧

English

Limited

— Facilities —

🅿️ParkingYes

🚻RestroomYes

🥢Tasting BarReserve

🏷️ShopYes

🧘Eiheiji15min

🗺 Directions 🌐 Official Site 📍 Open in Maps 📜 All Breweries

※ Hours, fees and contact details may change seasonally — please confirm on the brewery's official site before your visit.

Signature Labels

Complete the Sake Journey

Arrange your visit to Kokuryu — stay nearby, get there, taste with a guide, or take a bottle home.

* Some links contain affiliate advertising. Commissions support this site's operation.

Kokuryu Tokusen Ginjo 特撰吟醸

Ginjo · the everyday face

A smaller, calmer sister bottle. The everyday Kokuryu — gentle, structural, food-loving.

Kokuryu Sho-ryu 石田屋

Junmai Daiginjo · long-aged

The brewery's reserve label, named after the original family shop. Aged for years, served at state dinners.

Recommended Pairings

◆Echizen crab — Fukui's winter king
◆Sōtō Zen shōjin ryōri (vegetarian temple cuisine)
◆Oroshi soba — cold buckwheat with daikon
◆Yakizakana (grilled fish) with Echizen sea-salt

Pair With Pilgrimage

⛩

Ichinomiya of Echizen Province

Kehi Jingu

氣比神宮

The first-rank shrine of ancient Echizen, in the port of Tsuruga.
The great wooden torii here is one of Japan's three classic torii,
designated an Important Cultural Property.
Visit on the way down from Eiheiji and the brewery —
a perfect Echizen day from temple to shrine to kura.

Visit the Shrine →

Kokuryu

🏨Stay Near the Kura

🚄Getting There

🍶Sake Tours & Tastings

🍵Sake Vessels & Bottles

Kehi Jingu