Written by Mika Tanimoto, Owner-Bartender, Bar Little Happiness — Hiroshima’s specialist whisky & rum bar with 1,000+ bottles
In March 2026, I attended the Komoro Whisky Festival at Komoro Distillery in Nagano Prefecture. The journey from Hiroshima — by Shinkansen to Tokyo, then a limited express west into the mountains — takes the better part of a day, which suggests the level of expectation with which I made it.
The festival featured multiple sessions across two days, including producer seminars and a cross-distillery panel discussion that brought together three of the most interesting voices in current Japanese craft whisky: Ian Chang from Komoro, Kuroha-san from Asaka Distillery, and Ishihara-san from Kanosuke Distillery.
What the Panel Discussion Revealed
The cross-distillery panel was the event I had specifically come for. In any industry, conversations between practitioners from different organisations carry a different quality from marketing presentations or solo seminars. The three distillers — coming from completely different backgrounds and production philosophies — found common ground in ways that illuminated what each of them was doing.
Kuroha-san’s quiet technical authority. Ishihara-san’s industrial-structure framework for understanding Japanese whisky’s particular challenge. Ian Chang’s precision and generosity toward his co-panellists — the way someone conducts themselves on a panel says something about how they conduct themselves in all professional contexts.
The tasting sample from Komoro — a Ruby Port cask expression under three years old — was the clearest indication of how the distillery is developing. At 46% ABV, diluted significantly from cask strength, the new-make character was almost entirely absent. Kuroha-san, who has tasted more young Japanese craft spirit than most people, said openly that this was remarkable. I agreed.
Read the full Japanese column: little-happiness.jp/columns/komorofes/
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