Kiku-Masamune – the famous brand that keeps the dry taste for years

Nada ”sake” popularized through marine transportation

Nada (southeast Hyogo) is famous for ”sake” brewing. In the five districts called Naga Gogo, there are many ”sake” brewers and they produce 30% of Japan’s sake.
Marine transportation is one of the reasons for the nationwide awareness of Nada ”sake”. ”Sake” was normally shipped via land, but in Nada, which was close to the coastline, the brewers carried ”sake” to Edo by a boat called ”taru-kaisen”. That is why the ”sake” from Nada was widely disseminated in the city of Edo and quickly gained popularity as ”kudari zake” or the ”sake that was produced in West Japan” and transported and consumed in Edo.
Kiku-Masamune is well known for its TV commercial accompanied by the equally famous TV commercial jingle. Jirodaiumunetoku Kano (from the head family Kano) established a business and commenced ”sake” brewing in 1659 during Edo Period. The brewery sold most of their ”sake” in Edo. It made their ”sake” widely famous and loved by Edo locals.

Working with farmland of Yamada Nishiki Rice

The brewery has always responded to changes of time by introducing advanced technological innovation in 1882: purchasing a then-expensive microscope from Germany, inviting engineers, and constructing the brewery building with brick having good insulation. It was around then that the brewery registered the trade name of Kiku-Masamune.
The characteristics of the locality can be found in the rice used for brewing as well. Seedlings of Yamadanishiki, the best brewer’s rice, are planted on paddies in Yokawa, Miki-city, Hyogo Prefecture every year. These paddies are considered to be very suitable for rice farming because of such conditions as the viscosity of soil and the temperature difference. Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewing formed ”Kano-kai” with the contracted farmers to purchase Yamadanishiki on an ongoing basis.
Nakata visited the rice terrace that the brewer’s rice producers have kept carefully. ”You should be fully careful about wind and typhoon because Yamadanishiki grows tall. The rice terrace has been used for ages. You cannot produce a massive amount but here, you can grow some premium Yamadanishiki,” said Mukai, the chairperson of the east branch of Kano-kai. They cannot make sake without the group of professional Yamadanishiki producers who have farmed the rice for generations.

食中酒には辛口が合う

菊正宗のCMでは、「うまいものを見ると、辛口のキクマサが欲しくなる」というのもおなじみだが、そのキャッチコピーのとおり、「飲み飽きせず、料理を引き立てる日本酒こそ本流である」というのが、菊正宗の信念である。
食中酒として最適なのは、やっぱり辛口。酒にもブームがあり、甘口が流行った時期もあったが、菊正宗は一貫して辛口にこだわり続けてきた。
350年の歴史を持つ菊正宗だが、第二次世界大戦のときには、爆撃により蔵が3つにまで減るという危機的状態に陥ったこともあった。それにも関わらず、ここまで大きな復興を成しえたのは、ひとえに「料理のうまさを引き出す、辛口の酒」という菊正宗のこだわりがあったからこそだろう。

ACCESS

Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewing Co., Ltd.: 1-7-15 Mikage Honcho, Higashi Nada-ku, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture; URL http://www.kikumasamune.co.jp/