Every distillery, its provenance, and its bottlings.

Founded in 1955 at the foot of Mt. Asama, Karuizawa used only Golden Promise barley and small direct-fired stills before closure in 2000 and demolition in 2016 — its remaining sherry-cask stock now defines the top tier of the Japanese whisky auction market.

Japan's first malt distillery, sited where three rivers meet — orchard-fruit sweetness, mizunara temple wood, and quiet depth.

Toa Shuzo’s Hanyu Distillery ran from 1980 to 2000 before demolition; the surviving casks became Ichiro Akuto’s celebrated Card Series and cemented Hanyu as one of the most collectible closed distilleries in the world.

Ichiro Akuto’s second Chichibu distillery, opened five kilometres from the original in 2019, roughly quintuples capacity while keeping the house’s exacting, small-batch philosophy — including in-house floor maltings and mizunara washbacks.

South-shore Islay distillery famed for slow distillation — richly peated, oily, and profoundly savoury.

Ichiro Akuto's craft distillery — the most influential of Japan's new wave. Mizunara washbacks, obsessive detail, tiny output.

Suntory's forest distillery in the Southern Alps — green, herbal single malt drawn from granite-filtered mountain water.

Bold, coastal single malt — peat smoke, sea brine, and savoury depth. The most Scottish of Japan's houses, by founding intent.

Nikka's Sendai valley distillery — steam-heated stills and soft water yielding a floral, fruit-forward counterpoint to Yoichi.

Forest distillery of Gaia Flow, keeper of stills salvaged from the legendary Karuizawa — wood-fired heritage meets modern craft.

Eastern Hokkaido distillery founded to make Islay-style whisky in Japan — coastal fog, local peat, and unmistakable smoke.

Kirin's expansive distillery at the foot of Mt Fuji — one of few worldwide making malt plus three grain-whisky styles under one roof.

Komasa's oceanfront distillery on Fukiagehama — three pot stills of different shapes, finished in first-fill shochu casks.

Backed by international investors and Scottish whisky veterans, Komoro Distillery opened in 2023 near the site of the lost Karuizawa distillery, targeting a premium Nagano highland single malt.

At 1,200 metres in the headwaters of the Ōi River, Ikawa is one of the highest and most remote whisky distilleries in Japan — built by a team drawn from Japan’s sake and craft-spirits world and licensed in 2020.

Alpine distillery of Hombo Shuzo — heir to the 'third lineage' of Japanese whisky, its original stills designed by Kiichiro Iwai.

Hombo Shuzo's Satsuma-peninsula distillery — hot-climate maturation yielding bold, deep, quickly-aged single malts.

Renowned shochu maker Kuroki Honten added a whisky programme to its Osuzuyama mountain distillery in 2019, using its own single-estate barley and forest spring water for a strongly terroir-led malt.

Kiuchi Brewery — maker of Hitachino Nest beer — opened Yasato Distillery in the foothills of Mt. Tsukuba in 2016, producing single malt, single grain and rice-based whiskies alongside its beer and sake operations.

Suntory's grain distillery on the Chita Peninsula — column-still spirit of remarkable clarity, the invisible backbone of Hibiki.

Miyashita Sake Brewery began whisky trials in 2011 and licensed its Okayama Distillery in 2015, producing a single malt made with domestic two-row barley and matured in a wide range of wine, sherry and mizunara casks.

Hokuriku's only whisky distillery — pioneer of ZEMON, the world's first cast pot stills, and a specialist in heavily-peated malt.

Sasanokawa Shuzo, a Koriyama sake and shochu maker since 1765, revived whisky production at its new Asaka Distillery in 2016 — a compact malt plant with a single pair of stills tucked beside the old Cherry Whisky blending house.

At the foot of Mt. Yotei in ski-country Niseko, this distillery opened in 2021 with a strong tourism footprint and a focus on clean, powdery-water single malt and craft gin.

Shochu house Nishi Shuzo's mountaintop distillery overlooking Sakurajima — maturing exclusively at altitude in a small, luxurious warehouse.

Compact Tohoku distillery at the foot of Mt Chokai — elegant, fruit-forward single malt in tiny volumes.

Founded in 1961 as a rum maker in Nago, Helios pivoted to whisky in the 1980s and now matures single malt in humid Okinawan warehouses — producing a tropical, high-angel’s-share style unique in Japan.

Backed by Niigata sake and brewing veterans, Niigata Kameda Distillery opened in 2021 in Niigata City, targeting a soft, snow-country style of single malt with strong local sourcing.

Japan’s northernmost whisky distillery, Kamui was founded by American-Japanese founder Casey Wahl on Rishiri Island in the Sea of Japan; the first spirit ran in 2023, targeting a maritime, terroir-driven single malt.

Yamaga Distillery opened in a restored building in the historic Kumamoto onsen town of Yamaga in 2021, pairing a small malt distillery with a strong visitor and hospitality programme.

Kuju Distillery opened in 2021 on the Kuju plateau of Oita, using soft volcanic spring water and a small pair of stills to produce a clean, highland-style Kyushu single malt.

Founded inside a Meiji-era garden south of Sapporo, Benizakura Distillery pairs a small hybrid still with a strong gin programme, positioning itself as one of Hokkaido’s first craft whisky houses.

Kyoto Miyako Distillery opened in 2023 as a boutique urban distillery, leveraging Kyoto’s spirits heritage to build a small-volume single malt brand alongside gin and liqueurs.

Coastal Hiroshima distillery of a 1918 spirits house — single malt made alongside signature Japanese gin.

One of Japan's smallest distilleries, built inside a brewpub with compact alembic-style stills — inventive small-batch releases.

One of Japan's earliest whisky licence-holders (1919) — a seasonal Akashi producer whose seaside single malts are back in the spotlight.

The Asaka malt distillery of Sasanokawa Shuzo — a 1765 sake house holding a whisky licence since 1946, a Tohoku pioneer.

A Mt Fuji volcanic-water distillery at 850 m elevation.

Komasa's converted shochu site producing pot-still grain whisky for the Kanosuke house — an unusual category hybrid.

Kobe's mountain-water distillery at 800 m above the Seto Inland Sea.

Whisky aged inside a mountain rail tunnel at a constant cool temperature.

Whisky distillery within a 1917 Akashi sake brewery — the lighthouse-branded Hatozaki range, built on sherry- and mizunara-cask maturation.

Hombo Shuzo's new third Mars whisky distillery in Yamanashi.

Craft pioneer better known for rum, also making single malt whisky.

A 19th-century Kuma Valley shochu house also making rice-based whisky.

A century-old shochu house brings Kyushu craft to single-malt whisky.

A northern Kyoto highland distillery in Tanba brewing country.

Far-north Hokkaido cold-climate distillery.

A hot-spring village distillery at 600 m in the Northern Alps.

Whisky-making on Japan's rainiest UNESCO-listed island.

Matsui Shuzo's distillery beneath Mt Daisen, producing the Matsui, Kurayoshi and Tottori ranges including peated editions.

Kiuchi Brewery's second Ibaraki whisky site.

Sanriku-coast craft distillery in Iwate.

Boso Peninsula craft coastal distillery near Tokyo.

Kure-based sake maker Miyake Honten distilling beside the Inland Sea, with peated spirit in its early releases.

Central Nagoya urban craft distillery.

Asakura Fukuoka craft distillery.

Tokushima craft distillery.

Lake Biwa craft distillery.

Chitose Hokkaido distillery.

Sakaiminato port sake-and-whisky distillery.

Tottori Sea of Japan craft distillery.

Shizuoka craft distillery.

Tama-headwaters craft distillery.

Mt Fuji northern-foot distillery.

Mt Fuji Yamanashi craft distillery.

Toyama craft distillery.

Furano central-Hokkaido distillery.

Furano highland Hokkaido distillery.

Miyagi craft distillery.

The revived Hanyu single malt distillery.

Osaka Kitashinchi collab distillery.

Hekinan Aichi coastal distillery.

Hida Takayama mountain distillery.

Kagoshima volcanic craft distillery.

Kagoshima craft distillery.

Iiyama Nagano snow-country distillery.

Ise sacred-shrine craft distillery.

Historic Hitoyoshi shochu-whisky house.

Nara Kamiki blended-malt distillery.

The revived Karuizawa whisky project.

Legendary lost grain whisky distillery.

Kibi Okayama craft distillery.

Kumano sacred-mountain distillery.

Kita-Karuizawa highland distillery.

Historic Fukuoka 1820 sake house.

Aichi brewery-distillery main plant.

Kobe craft distillery.

Komasa Kagoshima whisky distillery.

Konosu Saitama craft distillery.

Gunma highland craft distillery.

Okinawa subtropical craft distillery.

Hokkaido craft distillery.

Historic Okinawa awamori house.

Mikuni Sea of Japan distillery.

Yamanashi wine-and-whisky plant.

Chiba botanical-garden distillery.

Miyakonojo shochu-country distillery.

Miyota Karuizawa-plateau distillery.

Nagasaki craft distillery.

Naha Okinawa craft distillery.

Historic Iwate sake brewery with whisky.

Nikka Kitakyushu blending plant.

Nikka Kagoshima Satsuma distillery.

Nikko sacred-mountain distillery.

Nirasaki Yamanashi craft distillery.

Historic Tanba-Sasayama sake house.

Niyodo River Kochi craft distillery.

Odawara Kanagawa craft distillery.

Kanazawa Hokuriku craft distillery.

Osumi Kagoshima shochu-and-whisky.

Myoko-highland Niigata distillery.

Tochigi craft distillery.

Sakurao mountain forest sister-distillery.

Historic Sapporo alcohol plant.

Sato Shuzo Miyazaki whisky.

Hokkaido craft distillery.

Senshu southern-Osaka distillery.

Setouchi island craft whisky.

Fukushima craft distillery.

Legendary lost Fukushima single malt.

Shonan coastal craft distillery.

Ibaraki craft distillery.

Historic Ibaraki sake house.

Okinawa craft distillery.

Pacific-coast Hokkaido craft distillery.

Fukushima craft distillery.

Takara Shuzo Miyazaki cellar-distillery.

Hokkaido craft distillery.

Kunisaki Oita craft distillery.

Tanzawa mountain-water distillery.

Bandai / Inawashiro craft distillery.

Hokkaido boutique craft distillery.

Greater-Sapporo craft distillery.

Tokachi plain Hokkaido distillery.

Tomakomai port-city distillery.

Historic Ehime sake house.

Historic Nagasaki 1787 sake house.

Northern-Hyogo mountain distillery.

Yamato-basin Nara distillery.

Yokogawa Gunma craft distillery.

Yoro Falls Gifu distillery.

Kanagawa craft distillery.