Craft Brewery Near Me in Koganei: Chuo Line Beer Works Under the Tracks

Chuo Line Beer Works is the first brewery ever opened in Koganei and the first brewery run directly by the JR East group, set under the JR Chuo Line viaduct at 5-3-45 Midori-cho, Koganei-shi, Tokyo, between Higashi-Koganei and Musashi-Koganei. The taproom opens only Thursday to Sunday: 5pm to 9pm on Thursday and Friday, 1pm to 9pm at weekends, with last orders at 8:30pm. Payment is cashless and up front. For a craft brewery near me in western Tokyo, its house-brewed Poppoya Ale costs ¥830 for a 290ml regular.

The brewery is a 9-minute walk from JR Musashi-Koganei Station on the Chuo Line and a 12-minute walk from Higashi-Koganei, so most people come from Musashi-Koganei and walk east along the elevated tracks. The taproom stands on the east side of the point where Midori Chuo-dori passes under the viaduct, on the under-track walkway called Nonomichi, which is lined with a bakery, a nursery school and the Chuo Line House student dormitory.

Look for three low, boxy buildings in a row. The one closest to Musashi-Koganei, on the right as you face them, is the taproom, marked by a large white logo of a station attendant carrying an armful of hops. The two units beside it hold the brewhouse, and long windows let passers-by see tanks and kegs lined up toward the far end. There is no bicycle parking, and the staff ask people not to leave bikes outside the door.

The operator is JR Chuo Line Community Design, the JR East subsidiary that runs station buildings and under-track spaces on the line. It started the Chuo Line Beer Festival in 2018, and in March 2021 station staff began growing hops outside JR Musashi-Sakai Station. By January 2026 that hop project had spread to 15 sites along the Chuo and Nambu lines, including station buildings and a train depot, with station staff doing the daily watering.

In spring 2024 the company recruited brewers from its own workforce. Tomoki Hirano, who worked at stations until just before the move, and Miyuri Kimura, a former station attendant who later spent about five years in a children's robot programming business, volunteered. Both trained for several months at Miyazaki Hideji Beer in Kyushu and then at breweries around Kanto. Hirano told the magazine Rinzine that the hardest part of brewing is reproducing the same flavor batch after batch.

The taproom opened on July 15, 2025 pouring guest beers only, and the house beers launched at the grand opening on August 30, 2025, when the place was busy with neighbours. Hops grow on the south side of the building and can be seen from inside through a large window. Mio Muramatsu of the company's regional revitalization team said she was surprised how many parents arrived with babies in strollers after the doors opened.

The core range was three beers until July 2026, when a Pilsner joined it. Golden Ale, at 4.5% ABV and 14 IBU, is named for the gold in Koganei and leans on soft malt. Weizen, at 5.0% and 11 IBU, uses more than 50% wheat malt and a single hop, Czech Saaz, for banana and clove notes. American IPA is the strongest, at 6.0% and 52 IBU, hopped with Citra, Nugget and Simcoe. The Pilsner is 5.0% and 21 IBU, also built on Saaz.

Poppoya Ale is the beer with the railway story. It is a 5.0%, 31 IBU pale ale made partly with hops grown by station staff, and from 2021 it was contract-brewed by 26K Brewery under the same tracks near Musashi-Sakai. Chuo Line Beer Works first brewed it in-house and put it on tap on January 29, 2026, at ¥830 for a 290ml regular and ¥1,150 for a 490ml pint, with 350ml cans at ¥700.

For the first anniversary the brewers made Kuri Amber Ale, a 5.0% amber ale using chestnut paste, a nod to Koganei's history of supplying chestnuts to the Tokugawa shogunate. It went on sale on August 29, 2026 at ¥900 for a regular and ¥1,200 for a pint, from a limited batch of about 2,500 liters, with the label drawn by Koganei illustrator Kaoru Yamasaki. On August 29 and 30, every tap poured house beer for the first time.

Inside, white walls and pale wood surround one long L-shaped counter, and two black lines on the floor trace the rails of the Chuo Line before it was elevated. The far end has a lower ceiling and is modeled on a train's box seats. The opening announcement listed 9 seats and 7 standing places, and window ledges double as perches. A long bench outside, nicknamed the engawa, works for one beer during a walk.

There are eight taps. The house beers sit alongside guests from Tama-area breweries and from places linked to the brewers' training; on a September 2025 visit, the blog Tokyo Beer Drinker counted beers from 26K, Ishikawa, Vertere, Far Yeast and Hideji. Everything comes in a 290ml regular or a 490ml pint. A fridge holds around 20 guest bottles and cans plus the house cans, but those are strictly for takeaway and may not be opened anywhere on the premises, including the bench.

Order and pay at the counter before you drink. Cash is not accepted, and Tabelog lists credit cards, electronic money and QR payments. Glasses are swapped for fresh ones with each round, and water, wet towels, chopsticks and small plates are self-service. Reservations are not taken. Alcohol is never served to anyone under 20, or to anyone driving a car or riding a bicycle, which matters in a neighborhood where many locals cycle.

Children come with their parents. In June 2026 a Tabelog reviewer stopped in with a child after catching butterflies in a nearby park, ordered an American IPA pint and found all three tables full, so the pair drank on the bench outside. That same reviewer's honest verdict is worth repeating: the food is light snacks, not a meal, so skip it if you want dinner and a long session, and eat first.

Monday to Wednesday the shutters are down, and weekday afternoons are out because Thursday and Friday service starts at 5pm. If you arrive on a closed day or find the room full, ride east to Musashi-Sakai, one stop past Higashi-Koganei, for 26K Brewery, a three-tsubo microbrewery inside the Ond food hall under the same viaduct. It opens every day except Wednesday from 9am on weekdays and 10am at weekends, until 9pm, and pours five of its own beers.

A weekend pairing works well with the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum, inside Koganei Park north of Musashi-Koganei Station. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government opened the seven-hectare site in 1993 to rebuild historic buildings from the early Edo period to the mid-Showa era that could not be saved where they stood. From October to March it opens 9:30am to 4:30pm, is closed on Mondays, and adult admission is ¥400.

Seibu buses from stop 2 or 3 at the north exit of Musashi-Koganei reach the Koganei-koen Nishi-guchi stop in about five minutes, and the museum is a five-minute walk from there. Leave when the gates close at 4:30pm, ride back to the station, and walk east under the tracks to reach the taproom in good time on a Saturday or Sunday. The Koganei City CoCo bus also links the museum with Higashi-Koganei Station.

Chuo Line Beer Works, 5-3-45 Midori-cho, Koganei-shi, Tokyo, under the JR Chuo Line viaduct between Higashi-Koganei and Musashi-Koganei stations. Open Thursday and Friday 5pm to 9pm, Saturday and Sunday 1pm to 9pm, last order 8:30pm, closed Monday to Wednesday. Cashless prepayment only, no reservations, no bicycle parking. Poppoya Ale ¥830 regular, ¥1,150 pint, ¥700 can. Eight taps in 290ml and 490ml.