Tanaka Sake Brewery Main Store
The Tanaka Sake Brewery was one of 50 sake breweries in Otaru when it was founded in 1899. Today, Tanaka is the only remaining sake brewery in the city. The Tanaka Sake Brewery Main Store opened on the site of the original brewery in 1927. The wooden building is typical of stores built in Otaru in the early twentieth century, with long eaves to protect customers and the shopfront from snow in winter.
Many of the original hand-carved wooden signs have been preserved, including the original shop sign and advertisements for various brews from the early twentieth century. Under the wartime regime in 1944, sake brewing in Otaru was consolidated under a single entity to control supply and pricing, and Tanaka Sake Brewery operated as a retail-only business. In 1996, Tanaka Sake Brewery purchased the Okazaki Warehouses, three stone buildings to the south of Otaru’s commercial center and resumed brewing. Tanaka Sake is brewed with spring water from Mt. Tengu in Otaru and rice grown in Hokkaido. Free sake tasting is provided at the main store and in the brewery.