Shikoku Craft Beer: Small Breweries in Unexpected Places

Shikoku isn't the first place that comes to mind when you think of Japanese craft beer, but that's exactly why it's worth exploring. Across this island, small breweries are popping up in places you wouldn't expect: zero-waste mountain towns, remote islands, renovated warehouses in quiet neighbourhoods. The brewers are making beer with local citrus, growing their own hops, and often running one or two-person operations with more passion than funding.

Aside from making excellent beer, what makes Shikoku's craft beer scene special is the stories. The American who fell in love with Japan's clearest river and taught himself to build a wastewater treatment system. The couple who moved to a tiny island and renovated a 150-year-old farmhouse into a brewery. The clothing store owner who decided to add a brewery to the back of his shop and now releases a new beer every week.

These aren't slick operations with venture capital behind them. They're people making beer they want to drink, in places they want to live, using ingredients they're excited about. And many of them happen to be in stunning locations along mountain rivers or overlooking the Seto Inland Sea.

Here are eight breweries worth seeking out as you travel through Shikoku.

Tokushima Prefecture

Kamikatz Stonewall (RISE & WIN Brewing) - Kamikatsu Town

Kamikatsu is famous for one thing: being Japan's first zero-waste town. So it makes sense that the brewery here would be equally committed to sustainability. RISE & WIN operates in a converted sawmill in the mountains, and they've taken the zero-waste philosophy seriously. Spent grain from brewing doesn't get thrown away. It's converted into liquid fertiliser that goes back into growing barley, creating what they call a "regenerative" brewing cycle.

The brewery uses Kamikatsu's specialty ingredients in their beers: yukou, a local citrus that's more aromatic than yuzu, and Kamikatsu bancha, a fermented tea with leaves and stems that would normally be discarded during production. The IPA made with bancha has this unusual depth where the tea's earthy notes balance against bright American hops.

The main brewery is called Stonewall Hill, and you can visit by reservation for tours and tastings in their Indigo Tower. But they also have a restaurant and taproom (BBQ & General Store) where you can drink fresh beer alongside food made with Kamikatsu produce. There's even a Tokyo taproom if you're not making it to the mountains.

What to try: Anything with yukou citrus, the bancha IPA

JouZo Beer Base - Anan City

JouZo is what happens when someone leaves a corporate job, works as a regional revitalization coordinator on an island in Hiroshima, and then decides to come back home to Tokushima to open a brewery. Sumitomo Masanori runs this place essentially solo in Anan city, in a converted lumber warehouse near his childhood home where he used to catch beetles in the sawdust.

The concept is simple: use Tokushima ingredients to make beer that gets people interested in the region. He's brewed with sudachi (of course), local rice, pears that fell during typhoons and couldn't be sold, and strawberries. The brewery calls itself 会いに行けるマイクロブルワリー (a brewery you can visit), and that's the whole point. It's small enough that when you show up, you're likely chatting with the brewer himself.

What to try: Whatever's using seasonal Tokushima produce

Kagawa Prefecture

Shiro Suzume - Takamatsu

Shirosuzume (White Sparrow in English) is on a mission to show people how diverse beer can be. Rather than focusing on one style or signature brew, they're constantly rotating through different styles to demonstrate beer's range. The attached taproom is called "Torikago" (bird cage), which is a nice play on the sparrow theme.

It's in Takamatsu, which makes it one of the more accessible breweries on this list. The approach here is about education as much as it is about drinking. They want people who are new to craft beer to discover the breadth of what's possible, and they want beer geeks to find something they haven't tried before.

What to try: Whatever's on tap, the point is variety

Setouchi Beer - Takamatsu

Setouchi Beer makes beers that match the personality of the Seto Inland Sea: calm, balanced, easy to drink. The head brewer, Doi Kohei, came from a pharmaceutical background, so he approaches brewing with a scientist's precision. But the goal isn't technical showmanship. It's creating beers light enough that you want another one, with just enough character to keep things interesting.

Being in Kagawa (udon prefecture), they've leaned into the theme with beers like "Udon Brewing" that use wheat and play with the idea of udon as a flavour profile. Their "Setouchi" series is designed for the region's seafood and the warm, breezy afternoons you spend eating it.

The taproom is called Riverside 351, and it's attached to their brewery in Takamatsu. You can drink fresh beer while watching them make the next batch.

What to try: Setouchi IPA or Lager, the udon series if you want something different

Ehime Prefecture

DD4D Brewing - Matsuyama

DD4D started as a clothing store in 1998. In 2019, they added a brewery to the back. Now when you walk into their shop in central Matsuyama, you pass racks of carefully curated fashion, and at the back is a bar where you can drink beer brewed about ten metres away behind glass walls.

The head brewer, Yamanochi Keita, was the opening brewer at Y.Y.G. Brewery in Tokyo before returning to his family's home in Matsuyama. He makes a new beer almost every week. Some use Ehime citrus (mikan, iyokan, setoka). Some are collaborations with local sake breweries or coffee roasters. Some are just experiments because he wanted to see what would happen.

In 2021, they opened DD4D Factory in Mitsuhama, a port neighbourhood in Matsuyama, where they have much larger brewing capacity and a weekend-only taproom. The whole concept is about doing what you love without being bound by convention, which comes through in both the space and the beer.

What to try: Their Homegrown Organic Beer series with Ehime citrus

Gogoshima Beer Farm - Gogoshima

Gogoshima is a small island off the coast of Matsuyama. You take a ferry from Takahama port, and about five minutes walk from the dock is a 150-year-old farmhouse that a couple from Yokohama renovated into a brewery.

Nagumo Nobuki and his wife moved here in 2022 and opened in 2023. The location says everything about their approach: they wanted to make beer on an island, using island ingredients (lemons, locally grown lemongrass), in a space that feels like you're visiting someone's home rather than a bar. The former brewer came from DD4D, so there's technical skill behind the welcoming atmosphere.

Their beers are designed to pair with food, which makes sense given they're surrounded by Setouchi seafood. They also focus on "upcycling" ingredients that might otherwise be wasted, fitting into that broader Shikoku theme of thoughtful, sustainable production.

The taproom is only open Friday through Sunday, and you're drinking beer while looking out at the sea, sitting at tables they built themselves.

What to try: Iyokan IPA, anything with island citrus

Kochi Prefecture

Mukai Craft Brewing - Niyodo

We met Ken Mukai at a festival in Kochi city where he and his wife were running a stall for their brewery. He's this tall, friendly Japanese-American guy from LA who got very animated talking about beer and the Niyodo River and why he ended up in the mountains making beer. He's a bit nerdy about it in the best way possible, the kind of person who'll explain the chemistry behind brewing while also telling you about marrying a woman from Kochi and falling in love with the region's produce and deciding this was where he wanted to make beer.

His brewery is deep in the mountains along the Niyodo River, which has been named Japan's clearest river multiple times. When he set up the brewery, he needed a wastewater treatment system, and the quotes came back at ¥15 million. So Ken, who used to teach physics and chemistry, built his own for about ¥150,000 using ozone and air. He spent six months experimenting until it worked.

The beers use local ingredients: sweet potatoes, kuromoji (a local spicebush), ginger, tea. His most interesting beer is called "17," named after Niyodo town's population density (16.7 people per square kilometre). It's a stout made with local sweet potatoes, and Ken's dream is to one day brew a beer called "18" when the town's population grows.

The taproom (Blue Brew) has 16 taps and is located in what feels like the middle of nowhere, surrounded by forest and clear water. Getting there requires determination, but that's kind of the point.

What to try: "17" sweet potato stout, "2410" (Niyodo)

Wayfarer Brewing - Nankoku

"Wayfarer" means someone who travels on foot, not by plane or train but by walking. It's a fitting name for Matt Boyd, an Australian who came to Japan, met his wife Yuki in Chiba, and eventually ended up in her hometown of Nankoku in Kochi, where they opened this brewery in 2023.

Matt's been obsessed with beer since university in Australia, where he spent years experimenting with homebrewing. He uses over 30 varieties of hops from around the world, but he also grows nine varieties himself in Nankoku, which means some batches use hops harvested hours before brewing.

The brewery is in a converted warehouse that Yuki renovated largely by herself, watching YouTube videos to figure out how to build the interior. It's a small, simple space with a few tables and a bar, but the hospitality is warm and Matt's Japanese is perfect, so don't worry if you can't speak English.

They're constantly tweaking recipes and trying new approaches, so the beer you get this month might be different from the same style next month. That experimentation is what makes it interesting.

What to try: Foggy IPA, anything with fresh hops if it's harvest season

Planning Your Visit

Most of these breweries are small operations with limited hours, so check their Instagram or websites before going. Several (Mukai, Gogoshima, Kamikatz Stonewall) require advance reservations for tours. Others (DD4D, Setouchi Beer, White Sparrow) have regular taproom hours and are easier to visit spontaneously.

If you're serious about visiting multiple breweries, renting a car makes sense for Tokushima and Kochi, where public transport is limited. Kagawa and Ehime's breweries are more accessible by train and local transport. But remember, Japan has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to drinking and driving, so make sure you have a designated driver, and buy a few cans to take home with you.

The best approach is to pick one or two breweries per area rather than trying to hit them all, or use them as a rest stop on longer drives. These places are spread out, often in remote locations, and part of what makes them special is taking the time to sit down, talk to the brewers, and understand what they're trying to do. Rush through and you'll miss the point entirely.