In the Ina Valley at the base of the central alps there is a little village called Miyada. And Miyada is home to the distillery of Mars Whisky. And Mars Whisky is one of the biggest and best whisky makers in Japan. Make this brewery part of your trip to the Ina Valley and you won’t regret it.

Their state-of-the-art facility is open to the public. If you come by between opening hours you can take a look inside the distillery and learn about the various stages of making whisky. You can also try the whisky at their onsite bar.

The bar serves all ranges of whisky from their ultra-accessible and highly rated Iwai range costing only a few hundred yen for a glass, to the kind of long-aged, specialty limited edition whisky you can only find at the distillery that will set you back thousands of yen a glass. You can also try the local (and I mean very local) craft beer on tap from Minami Shinshu Beer. It is literally brewed in the building next to the whisky distillery. They are the biggest craft beer producer in the Ina Valley and have a few choices at the bar from their standards to their seasonal specials.

Mars Whisky is produced by Honbo Shuzo, a company which started making whisky in 1949. At that time, they were based in Kagoshima and were the southern most whisky distillery in Japan. In 1985 they moved their operation to Miyada in the Ina Valley. The wonderful soft water from the snow-melt that trickles down through the granite rock of the central alps was one of their main considerations in making the move. Another was the colder weather which allows slower maturation. In 2016 they actually reopened their Kagoshima facility too and developed further in the region including the UNESCO world heritage site of Yakushima. Isn’t it good to see a company that stays true to their roots!

Opening hours: 9:00-16:00 with last orders at 15:30

Holidays: Open every day apart from for the New Years’ Holidays

Access: Best accessed by car or taxi. Be sure to have a designated driver if driving.

Address: 4752-31 Miyada Village, Kamiina District, Nagano Prefecture, 〒390-4301