Free Flow
Craft-gin free flow
60 min · ¥1,000Gin & tonics, gin sodas and a rotating list of original cocktails — pour after pour, for a full hour.
Tankyu Distillery Festival — 2026 TANKYU DISTILLERY FESTIVAL
Celebrating one year of distilling in Higashikawa — with Michizakura Sake Brewery
Sat 1 – Sun 2 August 2026, 10:00–17:00Admission Free
A note of thanks
This August marks one year since Tankyu Distillery began making gin and whisky in Higashikawa. Over these twelve months, the people of the town and countless friends beyond it have carried us — and let us keep making.
This festival is our way of saying thank you: two days for the makers and the community to enjoy together. Join a behind-the-scenes distillery tour, drink craft-gin cocktails built on our Yuki no Mado Dry Gin, and fill a whisky cask that will one day become a bottle. Come and meet gin- and whisky-making up close, with all five senses.
On the day
See it, taste it, make it — experiences prepared for these two days only.
Kimi no Taru
“Kimi no Taru” whisky cask-filling
¥11,000 (HUC members ¥10,000)Fill a cask with new-make whisky spirit yourself. The spirit you fill will mature for three years into a whisky made only for Higashikawa. In 2029 we will bottle the whisky from your cask and send it to you — a one-of-a-kind bottle, a gift to your future self.
* Open to guests aged 20 and over.
Photo Contest
Photo contest
Free to enterCapture your favourite moment somewhere in the distillery, tag it #丹丘感謝祭 and post it to social media. Winners receive special prizes including Tankyu whisky and gin — and the grand-prize photo becomes the bottle label for the Higashikawa-only whisky we cask on the day. The single frame you catch could become the face of a special whisky three years from now.
* Entry is subject to the contest terms.
Read the entry terms→
Distillery Tour
Distillery tour
FreeStep behind the scenes. Follow how our whisky and gin are made — the process and the choices behind them — guided by the makers themselves.
* For safety, this tour is open to guests aged 15 and over.
Michizakura Sake
Michizakura special sake
A special sake experience from Michizakura Sake Brewery, offered on these two days only.
Food Trucks
Food trucks
A drink in one hand, something good in the other. Joining us: onigiri and juice from 251 kitchen, meat-wrapped dango and juice from 〇〇 YUMS, and proper Pakistani curry from No.3 SPICE.
Access (free shuttle bus)
A free shuttle bus runs between Higashikawa Town Hall and Tankyu Distillery (about 15 minutes each way). The same timetable applies on both days.
Departs Higashikawa Town Hall
11:00 / 11:50 / 12:40 / 13:30 / 15:10 / 15:55
Departs the distillery
11:25 / 12:15 / 13:05 / 14:45 / 15:35 / 16:20
Also on — a Higashikawa summer
On the very same days — Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 August — the town centre hosts its great summer event, the 2026 Higashikawa Dontokoi Festival (at Hagoromo Park and the Photo Street pedestrian zone): 11:00–21:00 on Saturday and 9:30–15:00 on Sunday. A fireworks display is planned at Hagoromo Park from 20:30–21:00 on Saturday.
Tankyu Distillery will run a booth at the Dontokoi Festival too, pouring gin & tonics and gin sodas made with Yuki no Mado Dry Gin, plus new-pot highballs. Pair it with the festival at the distillery and enjoy summer in Higashikawa.
About Tankyu Distillery
Tankyu Distillery began making gin and whisky in Higashikawa, Hokkaido in July 2025 — a rare “publicly built, privately run” distillery. At the foot of Daisetsuzan National Park, the whole town of Higashikawa is fed by underground springs from Mt. Asahidake, and it is known across Japan as the “Town of Photography.”
Under head distiller David (Darwei Shieh), who trained at distilleries in Scotland, we make gin and whisky that could only come from this place — drawing on Asahidake spring water and carefully chosen ingredients.
So far we have released Yuki no Mado Dry Gin — soft and refreshing, made with Higashikawa fir and rice — and New Pot, the new-make spirit of our single malt. Our single malt whisky is maturing now, with release planned for 2029.
Company profile
- Company
- Tankyu Distillery Co., Ltd.
- Distillery address
- Nishi 2-go Kita 23, Higashikawa-cho, Kamikawa-gun, Hokkaido
In cooperation with
This festival is held in cooperation with Higashikawa Town and Michizakura Sake Brewery.
Event overview
- Name
- 2026 TANKYU DISTILLERY FESTIVAL — with Michizakura Sake Brewery
- Dates
- Saturday 1 – Sunday 2 August 2026, 10:00–17:00
- Venue
- Tankyu Distillery & Michizakura Sake Brewery Nishi 2-go Kita 23, Higashikawa-cho, Kamikawa-gun, Hokkaido
- Admission
- Free
- Organiser
- Tankyu Distillery Co., Ltd.
- In cooperation with
- Higashikawa Town & Michizakura Sake Brewery
Enquiries & reservations
For paid programmes — the craft-gin free flow and the “Kimi no Taru” whisky cask-filling — please enquire or reserve by phone or email.
- Official site
- tankyudistillery.jp/en
- @tankyudistillery_jp
- Hashtag
- #丹丘感謝祭
Drinking by anyone under 20 is prohibited by law. If you are driving, please refrain from tasting at the venue (bottles may still be purchased and taken home). Please enjoy responsibly and in moderation.