Written by Mika Tanimoto, Owner-Bartender, Bar Little Happiness — Hiroshima’s specialist whisky & rum bar with 1,000+ bottles
The most Hiroshima-specific whisky story in this column is also the most personal one for me: Sakurao Distillery makes whisky in my own city. The story of their SOGAINI expression — and the distillery tour that led to its creation — is one I have watched unfold from close proximity.
Sakurao Distillery
Sakurao Distillery is located in the coastal town of Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture — a short drive west from central Hiroshima, along the Seto Inland Sea. The distillery operates within Chugoku Jozo, a company with deep roots in Hiroshima’s liquor production tradition, and opened its whisky distillery in 2018.
The location is one of Sakurao’s defining characteristics: the maritime climate of the Seto Inland Sea — moderate temperatures, salt air from the coastal environment — works directly on the maturing whisky in the warehouses. The result is a house style that tends toward coastal freshness and fruit rather than the heavier, more robust characters you find in landlocked or highland distilleries.
SOGAINI: The Accessible Expression
SOGAINI (そがいに) is Hiroshima dialect for “incredibly” or “remarkably” — an intensifier that functions as both a flavour description and a local cultural marker. The expression was developed as Sakurao’s more accessible offering: still genuinely Japanese single malt, still showing the Sakurao coastal character, but at a price point and with a profile that invites everyday consumption rather than special-occasion reverence.
The name is also, for anyone who knows Hiroshima, immediately recognisable as an expression of local identity. This is not a subtle choice.
The Distillery Tour
I have visited Sakurao as part of their distillery tour programme. The experience of watching the Seto Inland Sea through the distillery windows while tasting through expressions that were made with the salt air visible from where you are standing creates a particular kind of connection between place and product. Sakurao has invested seriously in making this visitor experience as good as the whisky itself.
Sakurao and SOGAINI are available at Bar Little Happiness. Read the full Japanese column: little-happiness.jp/columns/sogaini-whisky-report-2025/
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