”Kitaya” is a brewery founded in Bunsei Era in Edo Period. The name ”Kitaya” was named after the resolution at the time of foundation, to ”spreading joy through sake”, and it has been the basis of their corporate philosophy to the present.
The first owner, Saikichi Kinoshita was so passionate about brewing, that he took on the role of ”toji” (brew master) and did the brewing himself. Since then, ”the owner should brew the sake” became the family rule, and now, the master brewer and several engineers work together as a team to make ”sake” under the president who is also a brewing engineer.
In a region where ”Yamada Nishiki” is produced
Yame-shi, Fukuoka Prefecture, where Kitaya is located, is situated in the south of Chikushi Plain, which is the No.1 granary in Kyushu. The region has great natural beauty, and is blessed with quality rice, pure water and rich nature. A large volume of ”sake” rice is made in Fukuoka Prefecture, including the most famous ”Yamada Nishiki”, which is still considered the best rice for ”sake” brewing.
We were given a lecture on Yamada Nishiki, and also shown a huge ”sugidama”, weighing 2 tons. ”Sugidama” is also called ”sakabayashi” and it is made to announce that the new ”sake” is ready. Its origin comes from the cedar of Mt. Miwa, the deity of Omiwa Shrine (also called Miwa Shrine) in Nara, the god of ”sake” making.
We also learned a lot of things about making ”sake”, such as the bottles used for storing ”sake”.
