Yanagimachi is located in downtown Ueda, which flourished as the castle town of Ueda Castle built by Yukimura Sanada, a warlord of the Warring States period who was highly popular and well known as the best soldier in Japan, and his father, Masayuki Sanada, and still retains a strong Edo period atmosphere.
Okazaki Sake Brewery, established in 1665, is located in a corner of this street full of historical atmosphere that invites visitors to a time of eternity.
Along the passageway leading from the storefront to the brewery, visitors can see the long history of this brewery, which has been in existence since the Edo period (1603-1867), with its large, eye-catching Hina (Doll) tiers and brightly decorated Hina ornaments.
The birth of “Shinshu Kamerei,” the pride of Okazaki Sake Brewery
Currently, the brewery’s toji, Midori Okazaki, is the twelfth-generation head brewer.
She is one of only a handful of female toji in Nagano Prefecture, which is said to have the second largest number of sake breweries in Japan.
The youngest of three sisters, Midori was born into a brewer’s family and has an older sister, the popular manga artist Mari Okazaki. With her older sisters already determined about their career paths and future directions, she had the idea in her mind since elementary school that she would take over the Okazaki brewery if no one else would.
After graduating from high school, he went on to Tokyo University of Agriculture to learn the basics of sake brewing. He then worked for a major sake distributor before returning to his hometown. Of course, as a business owner, he had planned to take over the family business, but when the then-elderly toji (master brewer) retired, he suddenly decided to join the brewery.
During his first four years at the brewery, he learned the techniques and know-how under the previous toji, and in 2002 he became the first toji at Okazaki Shuzo.
When he first became the toji, he was only concerned with maintaining the brewery’s declining production and keeping the business going, and he continued to manage the brewery in a hands-on manner. Since then, the brewery has been promoting sake brewing from new perspectives, such as unifying its own brands, adjusting the amount of brewing, and promoting the use of local rice.
Kenichi is at the core of these ideas.
Kenichi was originally a civil servant working for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. His experience in an industry completely different from sake production may be the driving force behind his radical ideas.
Upon entering the brewery, Kenichi immediately began touring a number of breweries to learn about the brewing process and system, and to establish a sake production style that would suit his company’s needs.
Taking advantage of the compact size of the brewery, he and his wife formulated a production volume that they could manage on their own, replaced the equipment, and improved the quality of the sake by establishing a clear line of sight within the brewery.
As a result of this reform, the brand was consolidated into one, ” Shinshu Kamerei (clean). All of the series have become sake with sweetness, aroma, and a clean, fresh taste.
In 2017, the company stopped producing second-grade sake for the local market, brewing only sake that they truly believe is good, and expanded their sales channels nationwide.
The steady branding efforts paid off, and the number of inquiries gradually increased, which in turn led to an increase in sales.
Okazaki Sake Brewery Looks to the Future with the Local Community
Having established their own brand, the Okazaki couple’s next goal is to work with the local community.
They are in the process of gradually realizing their desire to make the town of Ueda, which has supported and nurtured the Okazaki Sake Brewery, a more beautiful and attractive place.
One of these efforts is a sake rice owner system.
This program invites prospective owners of idle rice paddies in the “Inakura terraced rice fields” located in the Tonoshiro district, a 20-minute drive from the brewery, to experience everything from planting to harvesting sake rice. The rice is then used by Okazaki Sake Brewery to brew a special limited-edition sake only available under this program. Afterwards, the owner can take home a bottle of sake directly from the brewery on the same day it is made.
The program is so popular that there is currently a waiting list for the lottery, and since most of the owners live in the Kanto region, it has helped to spread the name recognition of the Okazaki Sake Brewery and, by extension, of Ueda City throughout Japan. Not only that, but it also breathes life back into farmland that had fallen into disuse and ruin, and creates jobs to manage the fields while also playing a role in community revitalization and landscape preservation. This system is truly rooted in a recycling-oriented society and matches the needs of today.
This is one of the reasons why people gather to Mr. and Mrs. Okazaki in the hope that they will be able to make their words come true, as they are actually moving forward to cooperate with the local community.
By promoting attractive town development and creating a community where more and more locals and tourists come and go with Okazaki Sake Brewery and Shinshu Kamerei as a hub, Ueda will become an even more wonderful town than it is now.
