Ishikawa Shuzoten of Ishinomaki, Miyagi, Founded 144 Years Ago, Declared Bankrupt
Ishikawa Shuzoten of Ishinomaki, Miyagi, maker of the sake Kitakamigawa, has entered bankruptcy proceedings after 144 years in business.
In May 2026, Ishikawa Shuzoten, the brewery behind the sake Kitakamigawa in the port city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, in Japan’s Tohoku region, received a decision to commence bankruptcy proceedings from the Ishinomaki branch of the Sendai District Court. Tohoku Broadcasting (TBS NEWS DIG) reported the news, citing the credit research firm Teikoku Databank, and put the company’s liabilities at about 90 million yen (in the order of several hundred thousand euros). The brewery was founded in 1882, the 15th year of the Meiji era.
A Brewery Dating Back to the Meiji Era
Ishikawa Shuzoten is a brewery in Sumiyoshi-cho, Ishinomaki, which had been making sake for 144 years. Its flagship brand, Kitakamigawa, takes its name from the great river that runs through the Tohoku region and flows into the sea at Ishinomaki. A “decision to commence bankruptcy” means that the court has formally approved the start of bankruptcy proceedings. A trustee appointed by the court will now settle the assets and distribute the proceeds to creditors. At the time of the report, nothing had been said about what will happen to the brewery’s equipment or its brand.
The Position of Small Breweries
The reports do not make clear the specific reason for the bankruptcy. However, sake consumption in Japan has been falling for many years, and closures and insolvencies among small breweries that depended on local demand have become far from unusual in recent years. At the same time, some breweries are opening up new markets through exports and distinctive sake-making. That a long-established brewery dating back to the Meiji era could not continue is one example of the polarisation under way in the sake industry.
Enjoying Sake in Europe
We have not been able to confirm whether Kitakamigawa is available in Europe, but even if it can be found, it may become hard to obtain from now on. This story could be a good prompt to look at the sake of Miyagi Prefecture. Miyagi is known as a region that embraced junmai sake (sake made only from rice, rice koji and water) early on, and many of its styles are clean and easy to pair with food. If you come across sake from a small Miyagi brewery at an importer’s shop, try it slightly chilled with seafood such as oysters or white fish.
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This article was written by The Sake Wire editorial team, summarising the public sources listed above. Images are our own.
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