Refers to a brewery, especially for sake or soy sauce, or the person who runs it. Common in contexts of traditional Japanese brewing.
This brewery makes junmai sake.
This sake is brewed at a local brewery.
I visited the brewer and heard about the brewing process.
warehouse overseer
Archaic term for a person in charge of a storehouse or warehouse. Not used in modern Japanese outside historical contexts.
In the Edo period, the warehouse overseer managed the shogunate's rice storehouses.
This sake is fresh because it's shipped directly from the brewery.
There are several long-established breweries in this region.
酒蔵 refers to the physical brewery building where sake is made, while 蔵元 can mean the brewery as a business or the person running it.
醸造所 is a general, neutral term for any brewery or distillery (sake, beer, wine, etc.), whereas 蔵元 is specifically tied to traditional Japanese sake or soy sauce brewing.
Standard kanji spelling for a brewery or brewer, especially for sake and soy sauce.
Alternate kanji spelling; much less common than 蔵元 and may be confused with the surname 倉本.
Compound of 蔵 (くら, 'storehouse') and 元 (もと, 'origin' or 'source'). Originally referred to the person in charge of a storehouse, later extended to mean a brewery or brewer, as sake breweries traditionally stored and aged their products in storehouses.