You can now visit Suntory’s oldest distillery, and it’s in downtown Osaka

Great news out of Suntory this past week: the company’s Osaka Factory–their oldest distillery–will for the first time ever be opening to the public for tours in May 2026.

You may not have heard of the Osaka Factory because Suntory doesn’t make whisky there. History buffs may recall that Suntory’s first big product wasn’t a whisky at all: it was Akadama Port Wine. The company started bottling Akadama Port Wine at this facility in 1919, and their success with that product enabled them to fund the construction of the Yamazaki Distillery, which started operation in 1924.

Today, Suntory makes non-whisky spirits and liqueurs at their Osaka Factory. You’ve definitely heard of Roku gin, you’ve probably heard of Sui gin, and industry folks might even be familiar with their Kanade line of liqueurs. It’s also home to Haku vodka and Suntory’s umeshu.

In 2024, Suntory spent around 6.5 billion yen to build a visitor center at the Osaka Factory. Visitors will have a chance to see where and learn how Roku is made, and in the Suntory tradition, you’ll also be able to sample some of its component liquors as well.

Obviously, the location in downtown Osaka is a huge advantage here: the factory is just a stone’s throw away from some of the city’s biggest attractions like Universal Studios Japan and the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. If your travels take you to Osaka, as they do for many visitors to Japan, it would be silly to miss this if you like Japanese spirits at all.

The tour lasts 80 minutes and costs 3,000 yen, and includes a 200ml bottle of Roku at the end. You’ll need to register for the lottery to win a tour spot, and it looks like the tours run on Thursdays through Sundays plus holidays. As of this writing, there doesn’t appear to be any English-language tour option, but I’d expect that to change in the very near future. Tours start on May 8, 2026.