Yoichi
Yoichi is a fishing and fruit-growing town on the coast of Shiribeshi in western Hokkaido, home to Nikka's Yoichi whisky distillery, about half an hour by car west of Otaru.
- Region
- Hokkaido
- Journeys
- One includes Yoichi
overview
Stone stillhouses by the sea, and the smell of malt and coal smoke on the wind.
Yoichi sits where the Yoichi River meets the Sea of Japan, at the base of the Shakotan Peninsula. It was a herring town in the Edo period and an orchard town from the Meiji era, when settlers planted the first apples, and today it grows apples, cherries, grapes and pears on the slopes behind the harbour. Its vineyards supply many of Hokkaido's best wines, and a number of small wineries have opened among them.
Yoichi's fame is its whisky. In 1934 Masataka Taketsuru, who had studied chemistry in Glasgow and learned to distil in Scottish distilleries, built his own distillery here, choosing the town for its cool, damp air and its sea winds, which reminded him of Scotland. While the first spirit matured he sold apple juice, which is why the company was named Nikka, from Nippon Kaju, Japan Juice. His Scottish wife, Rita, came with him and made her home in the town.
The distillery still works much as he designed it. Its copper pot stills are heated directly by coal fires, a method almost no other distillery in the world still uses, and the stone buildings with their red roofs stand in a walled compound at the edge of town. For anyone who cares for whisky it is one of the essential visits in Japan, and the town around it, with its orchards, wineries and coast, rewards a slower day.
see and do
What to see in Yoichi
Nikka's Yoichi distillery
The distillery of 1934, built of stone in the Scottish style with red pagoda-roofed kilns, where coal-fired pot stills, cooperage, warehouses and the Taketsuru family house can all be seen on a guided visit that ends with a tasting.
The Nikka Museum
Within the distillery grounds, the story of Japanese whisky and of the Taketsurus, with a bar where the single malts of Yoichi, including bottlings sold nowhere else, can be poured by the measure.
The vineyards of Yoichi
The slopes of the town, planted mainly with Kerner, Pinot Noir and Zweigelt, now one of the most admired wine regions in Japan, with small wineries that welcome visitors for a tasting.
Former Shimo-Yoichi Unjoya
A trading post of the Edo period, built for the trade in herring and goods between the Matsumae domain and the Ainu, and the only building of its kind left standing in Hokkaido, now a national historic site.
Fugoppe Cave
A shallow cave on the coast whose walls carry some 800 carvings of human figures, boats and animals, made about 1,500 years ago, protected behind glass in a small museum.
Candle Rock
A tall pillar of rock rising from the sea off the coast west of the town, seen from the coast road with the cliffs of Shakotan beyond.
Cape Kamui on the Shakotan Peninsula
A narrow green ridge running out into the sea about an hour west of Yoichi, above water so clear that it is known across Japan as Shakotan blue, with a level path along its spine to a lighthouse.
experiences
The best of Yoichi
The distillery in depth
A private car to Yoichi with a guide who knows Japanese whisky, a guided visit to the stills and warehouses, and a tasting of single malts and rare bottlings in the museum bar.
A winery afternoon
Time among the vineyards on the hills behind the town, with tastings at small wineries and a lunch of Hokkaido produce paired with the wines of the slope.
The coast of Shakotan
A drive west along the Shakotan coast to Cape Kamui and the blue water below its cliffs, with a lunch of sea urchin from the fishing harbours of the peninsula.
plan your visit
Yoichi on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- Yoichi is usually a day: the morning at the distillery and the afternoon among the vineyards or on the Shakotan coast, from a base in Otaru, Sapporo or Niseko.
- Getting there
- By private car from Sapporo in about an hour by the expressway, from Otaru in about half an hour, and from Niseko in about an hour. Trains run from Otaru on the Hakodate Line in about twenty-five minutes.
journeys
Tours of Japan that include Yoichi
Each journey below includes Yoichi; choose one to see its route, dates and price. For a journey on your own dates, the Custom Tour of Japan can include Yoichi and anywhere else you would like to go.
questions
Yoichi: questions answered
Can you visit the Nikka distillery in Yoichi?
Yes. Nikka's Yoichi distillery offers guided visits of the stillhouse, warehouses and the former Taketsuru residence, followed by a tasting.
How do you get from Sapporo to Yoichi?
By private car in about an hour by the expressway, or by train to Otaru and then along the Hakodate Line, about an hour and a half in all.
What is special about Yoichi whisky?
Its stills are heated directly by coal fire, a method almost no other distillery still uses, which gives Yoichi single malt its rich, smoky, slightly salty character.
Who founded the Yoichi distillery?
Masataka Taketsuru, who studied whisky making in Scotland and built the distillery in 1934, choosing Yoichi because its climate reminded him of the Scottish Highlands.
Is Yoichi known for wine?
Yes. Yoichi is one of the leading wine regions of Hokkaido, with vineyards of Kerner, Pinot Noir and Zweigelt and a growing number of small wineries.
Which Luxury Japan Travel journeys include Yoichi?
Pure Hokkaido includes a day in Yoichi. The Custom Tour of Japan can include Yoichi on any dates, created around your party alone.
Can Yoichi be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with a Tour Director beside you, and it can include Yoichi. For independent travel, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
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Every place in Hokkaido
Yoichi, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to Yoichi. We will answer with a journey shaped around it: one of our tours, a journey of The Private Collection, or a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone.