Written by Mika Tanimoto, Owner-Bartender, Bar Little Happiness
When visitors arrive at Bar Little Happiness and ask for a local whisky, the answer always starts the same way: Sakurao Distillery. Not just because it’s local — the distillery is less than 45 minutes away, on the shore of the Seto Inland Sea — but because the whisky is genuinely good, genuinely distinctive, and genuinely of this place.
Two Distilleries, One Vision
Sakurao Distillery (operated by Chugoku Jozo, over 100 years of spirits history in Hiroshima) works across two completely different production sites.
Sakurao sits on the coast near Hatsukaichi — mild, humid, maritime maturation. Fruity, smooth, approachable coastal character.
Togouchi is in the mountains of northern Hiroshima — a former railroad tunnel site at higher altitude, cooler temperatures, different weight and complexity.
SOGAINI — Sakurao’s premium blended malt — brings both together in one bottle. Two landscapes, one whisky.
Reading the Bottle
Every design element references Hiroshima’s geography. Looking down from above, the bottle cap reveals a cherry blossom. The label’s upper line traces Togouchi’s mountain ridgeline; the lower line echoes the Seto Inland Sea at Sakurao. The cap represents the “time” of maturation at both sites.
The aging warehouse at Sakurao features projection mapping that transforms the maturation environment into something almost cinematic — one of the most memorable distillery visit experiences in Japan.
Bar Little Happiness has stocked Sakurao since its early days — Mika was among the first bar operators to take it seriously — and carries a range including limited releases, with the full story of how the distillery has grown.
Full Japanese report: little-happiness.jp/columns/sogaini-whisky-report-2025/
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Bar Little Happiness | Hiroshima, Japan
Rum & Whisky specialists | 1,000+ bottles | English menu available
Open Mon–Sat 7PM–12:30AM, Sun 7PM–midnight
No cover charge. Walk-ins welcome.
english.little-happiness.jp