Sasaichi Brewery Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Otsuki City, Yamanashi Prefecture; Representative Director: Rei Amano) — a sake brewery with over 360 years of history that brews sake with the clear, pure water of the Fuji-Misaka mountain system and offers sacred sake at Mount Fuji — is set to open the "Sasaichi Brewery Otsuki Station Fuji Gate Store" inside the waiting room of JR East's Otsuki Station on June 30, 2026 (Tuesday), celebrating the opening of the Mount Fuji climbing season on July 1. This marks the first-ever joint venture between Sasaichi Brewery and JR East, and it is also JR East's first initiative to renovate a station waiting room in partnership with a sake brewery.
At the Fuji Gate Store, the menu will include the flagship sake brand "Sasaichi" — brewed with "Fuji Misaka Seiryusui®," pure spring water that flows from the Sasaichi Brewery's own well and has been filtered through the geological layers of the Fuji-Misaka mountain range over many years — as well as non-alcoholic sake lees soft serve ice cream "Fujisan Twist," a new non-alcoholic sake lees shake "Fujisan Shake," and house-made "Sasaichi Amazake Granola" bound solely with amazake. The gateway to Mount Fuji in Otsuki offers visitors a space to experience the sake brewery's setting, history, and culture rooted in the waters of Fuji.
About the "Fujimichi" Pilgrimage Route
The "Fujimichi" is a "path of faith" with 400 years of history — a pilgrimage route that starts at Nihonbashi, follows the Koshu Kaido highway, branches off at Otsuki, and leads to the summit of Mount Fuji. In the Edo period, people who worshipped Mount Fuji as a divine mountain followed this ancient road. The foot of Mount Fuji in Fujiyoshida retains many "oshi no ie" (pilgrim inn houses) where worshippers performed ritual purification, making this not merely a hiking trail but a "pilgrimage system" for purification, renewal, and bringing back the divine blessings of Fuji to Edo.
Sasaichi Brewery's "Modern Fujimichi" — from Otsuki to Kitaguchihonguu Fuji Sengen Shrine
Sasaichi Brewery offers sacred sake at Kitaguchihonguu Fuji Sengen Shrine, a site of Fuji faith. When "Traditional Japanese Sake Brewing" was inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Sasaichi Brewery held a celebratory "Hokoku-sai" ceremony at the shrine, attended by Otsuki Mayor Nobuyasu Kobayashi. This revered shrine has been known since the Edo period as a key waypoint on the "Fujimichi," where many pilgrims who departed from Otsuki stopped to pray on their way up the northern trail of Mount Fuji. For over 360 years, Sasaichi Brewery has continued to brew sake using the clear spring water of Fuji-Misaka and rice grown in Yamanashi Prefecture, supporting local festivals and ceremonies as a producer of sacred sake.
Store Overview
Store Name: Sasaichi Brewery Otsuki Station Fuji Gate Store
Opening Date: June 30, 2026 (Tuesday)
Hours: 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM, 2:30 PM to 7:30 PM (closed 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM)
Closed: Open year-round
Location: Inside the ticket gates of JR Otsuki Station, 1-1-1 Otsuki, Otsuki City, Yamanashi Prefecture
Products
Sake
- Sasaichi Brewery flagship brand "八咫笹一 (Yata Sasaichi)"
Sweets
- Non-alcoholic sake lees soft serve: "Fujisan Twist"
- Non-alcoholic sake lees shake: "Fujisan Shake"
Retail
- Sasaichi Amazake Granola
- Sasaichi Sake Lees Candy
Facility Design
Architectural Design: Takanori Ineyama (Ineyama Takanori Architecture & Design Office)
A Yamanashi-born architect who graduated from Tokyo University of Science's Department of Architecture in 2005 and founded his design office in 2014. He has received multiple awards including the Good Design Award and the Timber Utilization Contest Award. His representative works include Sasaichi Sakayukan and withKOFU.
Construction: Marumasa Watanabe Construction
A construction company with over 100 years of history based in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, specializing in new construction and renovation of residential and commercial facilities. Known for its skilled in-house carpenters and for collaboration with architects on projects recognized across Japan.
About Sasaichi Brewery
Founded in 1661 (the first year of the Kanbun era) as Hanadaya in the Oiwake district of Otsuki City, Yamanashi Prefecture — a place that flourished as the gateway for pilgrims heading to Mount Fuji. Later, the first brewery master Hisa Amano took over Hanadaya and, in 1919, reorganized and renamed it to the current Sasaichi Brewery.
The name "Sasaichi" combines the character for sake ("sasa") with the character for Japan's finest — a reference to Mount Fuji ("ichi"). The mark encircles the name in the design of the Yata no Kagami (sacred mirror), symbolizing Fuji faith, expressing the brewery's spirit of unity between sake brewing and faith.
The luxury sake brand "旦 (Dan)" — born from this legacy — earned a Kura Master 2025 Platinum Excellence Award for its "Dan Yamahai Junmai Daiginjo Banshu Aizan," and the "Dan Junmai Daiginjo" was officially adopted for ANA international first class service in 2025, earning global acclaim.
