About the Store
A sake shop with bottles worth coming to meet.
About 20 minutes by subway from Tenjin and Hakata, in Hoshikuma, Jonan-ku, Fukuoka — a specialty shop centered on sake, honkaku shochu, and wine. We value our ties with the breweries, introducing bottles the owner truly wants you to taste. We aim to be a shop you'll want to visit in search of a bottle you'll meet nowhere else. English support available.
What you can experience at Hoshikuma
Sake chosen by visiting the breweries
The owner travels to breweries across Kyushu and Japan, tasting each sake himself before it earns a place on our shelves. Every bottle has a reason it was chosen.
A deep range of Kyushu sake and shochu
We carry a wide selection of sake and authentic shochu brewed here in Kyushu — flavors of the region you can only meet because you came to Fukuoka.
Store-exclusive bottles
Some bottles never appear in our online store. They are special bottles reserved for those who make the trip.
Guidance in English
The owner speaks English and is happy to explain the taste and story behind each sake, shochu, and wine. Feel free to ask.
Standing bar in preparation
A standing bar where you can enjoy a glass in-store is on its way. Beyond taking a bottle home, taste it right here.
Coming soonBrewery Visits
Visit, talk, taste — then we buy.
The owner himself travels to breweries across Kyushu and Japan. He walks the brewing floor, talks with the makers, and tastes with his own palate. Only the bottles that convince him make it to Hoshikuma's shelves.
The sugidama hanging at the eaves, freshly polished sake rice, tools and aromas that differ from brewery to brewery — every encounter on the road becomes the words we use to guide you in the shop.
A cedar ball at the brewery's eaves, announcing the new sake.
Polished sake rice — the ingredient that shapes each sake's character.
Straw-wrapped casks, each dressed in its brewery's own design.
More than shopping — enjoy a glass at our standing bar.
We are preparing a standing bar where you can enjoy the bottle you've chosen right at the counter. Savor Fukuoka's local sake on the spot, over conversation with the owner. Opening details to follow.
How we approach sake
Seasonal Sake
Every seasonal sake is tasted by our own palates.
What the brewery tells us and what we actually taste don't always match. That's why, every time a seasonal bottle arrives, we taste it ourselves — so we can describe it to you in our own words.
We also listen to our customers: "it went well with this dish," "lighter than I expected," "something drier next time." Those voices shape our next recommendation.
What the makers say about the taste and the story behind it — we listen carefully first.
Every seasonal arrival is tasted by us, so we can tell you about it in our own words.
"It paired well." "A bit drier next time." Your feedback guides our next suggestion.
The brewery's intent, our own tasting, and our customers' voices. By carefully layering these three, we suggest bottles that fit each person's taste.
Shōchū Selection
A difference you can taste — that is our standard.
Compared with brewed drinks like sake and wine, shochu's differences are hard to convey in words alone. That is why our standard is simple: the difference must come through when you drink it.
Every brewery has its own philosophy and craft. What we look for is whether that craft truly shows in the glass — as a difference our customers can taste.
Each of these steps, one by one, greatly changes how a shochu tastes.
One sip, and you think — "now, that's different." That is the shochu Hoshikuma recommends with confidence.
What we carry
From breweries across Fukuoka and Kyushu — fresh new releases to aged bottles.
Sweet potato, barley, rice — the distinct personalities of Kyushu's distilleries.
MUKADO, under exclusive contract — the only shop in Japan carrying the full range. Visit the site →
Not listed online. Bottles you can only meet in the store.
An owner who can tell you why every bottle was chosen.
A graduate in brewing science from Tokyo University of Agriculture, he studied under the Georgian winemaker Lado Uznashvili during his university years. Their friendship has continued for nearly 30 years, and on that foundation of trust he now serves as the official Japan importer of Lado's private-brand wines. He visits the breweries, talks with the makers, and tastes before he buys — so he can tell you exactly why each bottle is here. English is no problem; visitors from abroad are always welcome. Let's find the bottle that fits your taste, together.
Hoshikuma Sake Store — Fukuoka
Access & Store Info
- Address
- 1-17-9 Hoshikuma, Jonan-ku, Fukuoka 814-0132
- Access
- On the Nanakuma subway line / about 20 min from Tenjin-Minami
- Phone
- 092-865-3343
- Hours
- Sake Shop 平日・土 10:00〜19:00／日・祝 10:00〜17:00 Standing Bar 平日・土 10:00〜19:00／日・祝 10:00〜17:00
- Closed
- Mon
- Languages
- Japanese / English
In Fukuoka? Come a little further.
Twenty minutes by subway from the bustle of Tenjin. Find your bottle at a sake shop in a green corner of the city.
Explore the neighborhood→