How Many Sake Breweries Are There in Japan? The State of Sake, by the Numbers

2026/11/11

How Many Sake Breweries Are There in Japan? The State of Sake, by the Numbers

"How many sake breweries are there in Japan?" "How many sake brands exist?" These are questions I hear often from guests, both Japanese and from overseas, when I serve sake at the restaurant. I used to answer vaguely, "over a thousand" or "maybe ten thousand." When I looked into the actual data, the numbers told a clear story about where sake stands today. Here is a summary based on official figures from Japan's National Tax Agency and other public sources.

The numbers at a glance

Item	Figure	Source / period
Sites that actually brewed sake	1,104	National Tax Agency, brewing year 2024 (Jul 2024 – Jun 2025)
Sites licensed to brew sake (surveyed)	1,707	Same
Breweries at the peak	About 3,500 (around 1973), according to various sources	Various
Number of sake brands	No official statistic (often said to be 10,000–20,000+)	—
Domestic taxable sake volume	About 387,000 kL (fiscal 2023)	National Tax Agency
Peak sake shipments	About 1.76 million kL (fiscal 1973)	Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association
Sake exports	About ¥45.9 billion, 81 countries and regions (2025)	Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association

Breweries: 1,104 sites actually brewed sake

The National Tax Agency surveys sake production every year. In its latest report (brewing year 2024, published January 2026), 1,104 of the 1,707 surveyed sites actually brewed sake that year.

The number has kept falling over recent years.

Brewing year	Sites that brewed sake
2009	1,302
2012	1,251
2020	1,159
2021	1,139
2022	1,141
2023	1,117
2024	1,104

That is about 200 fewer in 15 years, or roughly one in every six or seven breweries that stopped brewing. At the peak in the 1970s there were said to be about 3,500 breweries, so today's number is about one third of that.

One point to keep in mind: holding a license and actually brewing in a given year are not the same. Some licensed breweries are idle, and some have their sake made by other breweries under contract. The tax agency's figure is also based on sites that responded to the survey (a response rate of just under 90%), so the real number is slightly higher. "About 1,100 to 1,200 sake breweries in Japan" is a fair way to remember it.

Volume: about one fifth of the peak

Volume has fallen even more than the number of breweries. Sake shipments peaked in fiscal 1973 at about 1.76 million kL. By fiscal 2023, the taxable volume had shrunk to about 387,000 kL, roughly 20% of the peak. Even compared with ten years earlier (about 587,000 kL in fiscal 2013), it is down by about a third.

Production in brewing year 2024 was 285,636 kL (converted to 20% alcohol), down 6.2% from the previous year.

Brands: there is no official count

Unfortunately, there is no official statistic for the number of sake brands. You will see figures like "over 10,000" or "over 20,000" online and in books, but these are all estimates.

The reason is that one brewery often has several brands. Many breweries sell a flagship brand nationwide and a separate brand only in their home area. Within a single brand there are also many variations: junmai, junmai ginjo, daiginjo, unpasteurized (nama), hiyaoroshi, seasonal limited releases and more. The total changes greatly depending on what you count as "one brand."

With about 1,100 breweries each producing several brands in many styles, it is safe to say that the number of different labels runs into the tens of thousands.

Fewer breweries, higher quality

The numbers alone may sound a little sad, but what is inside the bottle is changing.

In brewing year 2024, premium "special designation" sake such as junmai and ginjo accounted for 130,535 kL, about 46% of all production. While total production fell 6.2%, special designation sake fell only 1.9%, and junmai sake actually grew. Sake has moved from an era of mass-producing cheap sake to one where people choose sake made with care for its rice and its brewing. Even as breweries decline in number, the character of each bottle is becoming more distinct.

Growing overseas

While domestic consumption shrinks, overseas demand keeps growing. According to the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association, sake exports in 2025 reached about ¥45.9 billion (up 5.5% year on year) and about 33,500 kL (up 8%). Sake was exported to a record 81 countries and regions. China ranked first by value and the United States by volume.

The average export price was ¥1,368 per liter, about 1.8 times the level of ten years ago. In Hong Kong and Singapore it exceeds ¥2,000 per liter. In other words, buyers overseas are looking for good sake, even at a higher price. The inscription of Japan's "traditional knowledge and skills of sake-making with koji mold" on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in December 2024 has also helped.

Fukuoka is a sake region too

Kyushu may be better known for shochu, but Fukuoka Prefecture is one of Japan's notable sake regions. There are currently 65 breweries in the prefecture (including shochu makers), and in the Edo period there were said to be more than 600 sake makers. Brewing here uses local sake rice such as Yamada Nishiki from Itoshima, as well as Yume Ikkon, Gin no Sato and Jugemu.

Thoughts as a chef

Fewer breweries also means that the sake from each remaining brewery is more precious. At Maizuru Kitchen we welcome more and more guests from Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, the United States and beyond, and many of them are very interested in sake. Just as with our ingredients, I hope you will enjoy sake whose makers you can picture, together with the food.