Take-no-i Shuzo, with a history of over 160 years, created a new brand, Seiko, in 2007. This sake is brewed with the flower yeast and rice that impressed the brewer during his apprenticeship, as well as Yatsugatake subterranean water drawn from a hand-dug well, from which the company’s name is derived. The toji is proud to pass on his unwavering sake brewing skills to future generations.

A long-established sake brewery that has been in business for over 150 years

There is a long-established sake brewery in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture, that has been brewing sake since the end of the Edo period (Keio era) more than 160 years ago. The name “Take-no-i Sake Brewery” is derived from the character “Take” of Buzaemon Shimizu, the founder of the brewery, and “I” of a 10-meter hand-dug well fed by subterranean water from the Yatsugatake Mountains. It was 18 years ago (2007) that a new brand called “Seiko” was born at the family-run brewery, which had been producing the “Take-no-i” brand for generations. It has a refreshing and easy-to-drink taste. It is recommended to drink it chilled. The brand’s senior managing director and chief brewer, Koichiro Shimizu, is the driving force behind the Seikou brand.

The New “Seikou” Brand

Today, Take-no-i Sake Brewery is making its own unique sake while responding to the needs of the market by rebranding and trying out the latest brewing methods. However, until 18 years ago, when Mr. Shimizu returned to Hokuto City after completing his training, he was making low-priced sake, unlike today. At that time, beer and wine were on the rise, and the demand for sake was gradually decreasing with the times. So we started brewing a new type of sake to differentiate ourselves from the competition. The name of the new brand, “Seikou,” was chosen to symbolize the image of clear, clean water and the desire for the sake industry to “sparkle” in the world. The name “Seikou” was chosen to reflect the image of clear, clean water and the desire for the sake industry to “sparkle” in the world.

Tsurubara Yeast and Omachi, both of which impressed him during his apprenticeship

Yeast is an essential part of sake brewing. Yeast is a small microorganism, invisible to the naked eye, that is responsible for the alcoholic fermentation process, converting the sugar in the rice used to make sake into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Yeast is usually isolated from the sake’s unrefined sake, but Take-no-i Sake Brewery uses “hana-kobo” (flower yeast), which is isolated from flowers that bloom in the natural world. Mr. Shimizu originally studied floral yeast while a student at Tokyo University of Agriculture. He says that his experience in brewing sake with various types of flower yeast at the Raifuku Sake Brewery in Ibaraki Prefecture, where he trained after graduation, was the starting point for his current style.

He says, “It was the Tsurubara yeast that I felt was most suited for the sake I wanted to make. Tsurubara yeast is a yeast that has been successfully isolated from the vine by the Sake Brewing Laboratory of the Tokyo University of Agriculture’s Department of Brewing and Fermentation. Mr. Shimizu was impressed by the combination of Tsurubara yeast and Omachi when he was in training. He says, “Sake made with Omachi and Tsurubara yeast is unique in Japan. I think it has a taste that can only be produced here. These words reveal his unwavering confidence. When Mr. Shimizu took over as toji (master brewer), he focused on “Junmai Ginjo Omachi,” which uses Omachi sake rice produced in Okayama Prefecture, as the core product of the brand. Currently, the Seikou brand is differentiating itself by brewing with Tsurubara yeast and offering a variety of products using different varieties of sake rice.

The Growing Appeal of Seikou

When the Seikou brand was released, it was very well received by buyers for its innovative taste. On the other hand, he realized that flower yeast is still not generally recognized. He says, “I think there are many people who don’t know what yeast is in the first place,” and he doesn’t put much emphasis on promoting the distinctive flower yeast as the main ingredient.

We place importance on having people experience the taste by drinking it. I think that if people feel that this is what flower yeast is after drinking it, then the goodness of the yeast will gradually spread.

An unexpected gift from Yatsugatake

The quality of the water is very important in creating a clean, refreshing taste. Mr. Shimizu says that he places great importance on water, and that all of his sake is brewed with water from the Yatsugatake Mountains. Hokuto City, where the brewery is located, is rich in Yatsugatake subterranean water, which is pumped from a 10-meter hand-dug well that gives the brewery its name. The water is classified as soft, medium soft, medium hard, or hard depending on the concentration of calcium and magnesium in the underground water. In Japan, where the land is narrow and the slopes are steep and the water flows out to the sea quickly, the calcium and magnesium in the ground are absorbed in a short time, so the water is often soft with a low concentration. However, the subterranean water here in Yatsugatake is influenced by the complex geological strata, so it is not soft water, but medium-hard water. Tsurubara yeast has a relatively weak fermentation power, but the hardness of the water helps it, like a “source of energy,”” says Shimizu. He recalls how he felt when he first started brewing sake in this area, saying, “I was very happy that the ingredients I wanted to use and the characteristics of the region happened to match, and I was able to create the flavor I was aiming for. The land of Yatsugatake responded in an unexpected way to the craftsman’s repeated research to create delicious sake.

Unchanging, unwavering sake brewing

Mr. Shimizu’s commitment is not to change the taste of the brand. He is committed to “never changing the taste of the brand,” which means “never blurring. After many years of sake brewing, the quality of the rice and environmental factors of the year can cause the taste of the sake to gradually deviate from the ideal. The difficult point is how to keep it within the framework of “Take-no-i” and “Seikou”. In order to maintain a consistent flavor, he says, the “strong points” of the ingredients, such as the aroma, are sometimes suppressed. Why does he insist on “not changing the flavor of the brand” to such an extent? The reason is the “customers” who look forward to drinking his sake.

He says, “There are many sake brands with the same name that have completely different tastes, and if you look around the world, there are many sake brands that have changed in taste. Of course, different sake breweries have different ideas, but I believe that the first taste is the one that leaves the biggest impression on the drinker. So I don’t want to betray that impression.

Preserving the Taste for Future Generations

In 2017, there was a new change in the Take-no-i brand, which has been well-loved for many years. In addition to the existing product lineup, new “Tokutei Meisho-shu” (special name sake) such as “Junmai Ginjo” and “Tokubetsu Honjozo,” which can only be named after sake rice that meets strict conditions such as the rice polishing ratio and ingredients used, have been added to the lineup. Despite these changes, however, the company continues to make locally-oriented sake, such as using Hitogokochi, a sake rice grown in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture. Shimizu’s steadfast sake brewing style is still alive and well, not only in the “Seikou” brand, but also in the “Take-no-i” brand, where the taste has remained unchanged.

As for the future outlook, Shimizu is determined to improve the current products to increase public recognition, but he has no plans to change the flavor of the brand. The refreshing and easy-to-drink taste of Qinghuang will surely continue to be accepted in the future. I believe it will be loved for a long time and remain as a sake. Mr. Shimizu’s words are imbued with a sense of responsibility to the customers who look forward to his sake and a solid confidence in the sake he is brewing. With the trust and experience he has built up, the unchanging taste of Seikou will be passed on to future generations.

The post Take-no-i Sake Brewery” brews sake with a consistent taste using flower yeast and Yatsugatake subterranean water / Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

Wakami Shuzo was founded in 1922 in Okawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture, located downstream of the Chikugo River. Named with the hope of “creating young waves” like the Chikugo River, the largest river in Kyushu, the brewery has been pioneering the deliciousness of sake in its own unique way.

Founded in the Chikugo River basin, a region famous for sake brewing

The Chikugo River, the largest river in Kyushu, flows majestically in front of the sake brewery. The Chikugo River basin, where the brewery is located, is blessed with abundant underground water sourced from Mount Aso, and the vast Chikushino Plain, which nurtures high-quality rice, stretches out. As one of Japan’s leading sake-producing regions, it developed significantly, with over 80 sake breweries in existence by the mid-Meiji period. At the same time, “Wakamiya Shuzo,” the main branch of “Imamura Honke Shuzo,” was also founded.

The origins of “Wakamiya Shuzo” date back to 1922 (Taisho 11). Three brothers from “Imamura Honke Shuzo,” which was founded in 1895 (Meiji 28), split off to start their own businesses, and one of them began sake brewing. Today, all other breweries have closed, and Wakamiya Shuzo, the sole remaining brewery, carries on the sake-making tradition of the Imamura family. Currently, the brewery is led by the fourth-generation head, Imamura Kaichiro, his sister and production manager, Imamura Yuka, and the ninth-generation master brewer, Shoji Takahiro, who are dedicated to sake production.

Shortly after production began with these three at the helm, in the 2010 brewing year (Heisei 22), the quality design of the existing “Wakami” brand was completely revamped. The brand was relaunched as a limited-release product, establishing the current structure.

The concept is “the surging wave of flavor and the lingering aftertaste.”

Amid the fierce competition among numerous sake breweries in the Chikugo River basin, Wakami Sake Brewery stands out for its exceptional craftsmanship. Since the inception of the Fukuoka Prefecture Sake Appraisal Competition in 2012 (Heisei 24), Wakami’s “Wakami Junmai Daiginjo” has won the top award, the First Governor’s Award, in every edition. This was a promising start that embodied the company’s founding vision of “creating a fresh wave in sake brewing.” At the 11th Fukuoka Prefecture Sake Appraisal Competition held in September 2023, two of the brewery’s brands, “Wakamiwa Junmai Ginjo Yamada Nishiki” and “Wakamiwa Junmai Sake,” won the same award in the Junmai Ginjo and Junmai Sake categories.

Wakami Shuzo’s concept for sake brewing is “the pushing wave of flavor and the pulling wave of aftertaste.” This refers to the taste of its signature brand, Wakami Junmai Ginjo, which bursts into the mouth like a wave of umami, then quickly recedes with a refreshing finish. Many people are captivated by this beautiful, wave-like quality of the sake.

The moisture content of the rice used for sake brewing is also carefully adjusted.

In the 2010 brewing year, the “Wakami” series was completely revamped and reborn as a limited-release product. From the outset, the brewery has been committed to creating “everyday sake that adds color to daily life.” The fourth-generation head brewer, Kaichiro Imamura, says, “Because this is sake that people drink every day, we strive to create a flavor that never gets old, making minor changes every year.”

The rice used as raw material for sake varies in characteristics even if it is the same variety and harvested in the same year. Among these, the difference in moisture content in rice, though only a fraction of 1%, significantly affects the quality of the sake. “We place great importance on reproducibility in producing good sake. Therefore, adjusting the moisture content of the rice is crucial. For example, even if the rice variety and milling degree are the same, the moisture content of the rice varies, so we measure it carefully each time and work with the master brewer to design how to express the differences and individuality between last year’s and this year’s rice in the brewing process.”

The rice used for sake is carefully selected from Fukuoka Prefecture.

The rice used by Wakami Shuzo is almost entirely grown in Fukuoka Prefecture. The three main varieties used are “Yamada Nishiki,” “Yume Ikkan,” and “Jugenmu,” all of which are rice varieties specifically suited for sake production.

“Yamada Nishiki” is carefully selected from the major production area of Itoshima in Fukuoka Prefecture. It is characterized by its elegant aroma and rich flavor, and is said to effectively express the ‘wave of flavor’ that ‘Wakami Sake Brewery’ aims to achieve. ‘Yume Ikken,’ widely used throughout Fukuoka Prefecture, is used in junmai sake with a rice polishing ratio of 50% to 70%. It has a clean taste with a light aftertaste. “Jugenmu” has a low amino acid content and few impurities. While it may seem bland, it brings out the flavor that Wakaba Shuzo aims for in its brewing process. Due to its characteristics, it dissolves well but is prone to breaking, so it is mainly used in pure rice sake polished to 65%.

“Rather than forcing the flavor to meet target values, we prioritize sake brewing that aligns with the rice’s unique characteristics,” says Mr. Imamura. In addition to rigorous moisture management, the brewery conducts regular discussions and tastings led by the head brewer, and solicits feedback from partner retailers to continuously improve the flavor.

The harmony among the brewery staff fosters the creation of fine sake.

Furthermore, we maintain strict hygiene standards by thoroughly cleaning and organizing the brewery every day, and disassembling and cleaning the brewing equipment once a week. Given the warm climate of Fukuoka, temperature control is also crucial for sake production, so we have introduced thermal tanks equipped with cooling devices that allow for precise temperature regulation. While sake quality design is essential, quality control also plays a significant role in determining the taste.

“Wakamiya Shuzo” operates with a small, elite team. We set a longer brewing period relative to our production volume, taking our time to craft our sake. We do not prioritize mass production. ‘By focusing on how to produce high-quality sake with a small team, we naturally arrived at a meticulous brewing process,’ says Mr. Imamura. The consistent, everyday drinkability of their sake is likely supported by such behind-the-scenes efforts. The uniqueness of Wakamiya is born from its small, dedicated team. As embodied by their motto, “Wa-jo Ryoshu” (harmony brews fine sake), the harmony among the sincere sake brewers continues to produce excellent sake.

To remain unchanged, we continue to refine our craft.

One of the things I am currently working on is exploring the compatibility of local Kyushu cuisine with sake. I source gourmet foods and ingredients from various regions and conduct repeated tastings, focusing on standard sakes. I incorporate the ideas and improvements that emerge—such as aroma, acidity, and aftertaste—into the sake-making process. When aiming to create a sake for everyday use, pairing it with locally beloved dishes is perhaps the most important consideration. To create a sake that will remain a staple in people’s lives, it is essential to continuously refine what already exists.

Previously, we changed the rice used in our seasonal limited-edition brand “Wakami Junmai Ginjo TYPE-FY2,” which was well-received, from processed rice to 100% Yamada Nishiki rice for year-round sales. At the time, the brewers temporarily hesitated over the rice change, worried that the refined, clean taste characteristic of “Yamada Nishiki” might leave those who preferred the previous flavor feeling unsatisfied. However, when it was released as planned, it was unexpectedly well-received. “I believe this bottle has become one that people can recognize as the current Wakami, including this evolution,” recalls Imamura.

While maintaining the original concept, the brewery continues to make updates. “To become a presence that enriches daily life, we strive to improve the quality of our everyday sake,” says Imura. This philosophy continues to resonate with those who enjoy their sake. Perhaps the day when these small waves grow into larger ones, creating a new wave in the world of Japanese sake, is not too far off.

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Aoki Sake Brewery, a sake brewery handed down in snow country

 Located in the southern part of Niigata Prefecture, the town of Shiozawa once prospered as a post town along the Mikuni Kaido Road connecting Edo and Echigo (present-day Niigata Prefecture). It is also known as one of the best rice-producing areas in Niigata Prefecture, where high quality rice can be obtained. When you visit this small mountain town, you will be greeted by a beautiful townscape with its quaint “gangi-zukuri” style, which is unique to the snow country. The scenery along the street, called “Shiozawa-juku Makino-dori,” has won the Urban Landscape Grand Prize and is highly regarded as a tourist attraction, attracting many tourists who come to take a look.

In one corner of the area, there is a sake brewery that has continued to make traditional sake since the Edo period. Aoki Shuzo brew s the nationally famous “Tsururei,” the brewery’s top-class “Bokushi,” and “Yukio,” a dry line of sake popular for its unique hairy creature label.

The Minamiuonuma area in southern Niigata Prefecture, where the Aoki Brewery is located, has long been known as one of the heaviest snowfall areas in Japan, with snow accumulating to over 2 meters even in urban areas. The book “Hokuetsu Setsuppu,” written in the mid-Edo period, describes the hardships and difficulties of people living in such a snowy region, their lifestyles, customs, and ways of utilizing the snow, and the wisdom of these people has been applied to the lives of people today. The author, Makiyuki Suzuki, is also an ancestor of the brewery, and it is said that he named the sake “Tsururei,” Aoki Shuzo’s signature sake. The brand name “Makino”, which is brewed for the annual National New Sake Competition, is also named after him.

The spirit of “Wago” is an important part of sake brewing

The Minamiuonuma area is known as a battleground for famous sake breweries, and Aoki Shuzo is the oldest sake brewery in the area. Founded in 1717, Aoki Sake Brewery has made the most of the benefits of the snow, from raw materials to brewing facilities, and has continued to brew sake while respecting the characteristics of the snow country and its relationship with the local community. The brewery is also committed to contributing to the local community by donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of “Yukio” to mountain rescue teams, as well as other efforts to create beautiful towns.

Taking advantage of the snow to make sake that suits the palates of the locals

The taste of sake also clearly expresses the characteristics of this region. The sake is characterized by its “umakuchi” taste, which maximizes the natural flavor of the rice, and is light but not dry, as is typical of Niigata. Our goal is to make a sake that goes well with meals and can be drunk as a mealtime sake,” said Muneyoshi Higuchi, toji (master brewer) of the brewery. Aoki Shuzo’s sake, of which about 40% is still consumed locally, is made with the belief that it must be enjoyed by the local people.

Aoki Sake Brewery uses Koshitanrei rice grown in Niigata Prefecture, which is grown in clean, melted snow, and water from the subsoil of Makihata Mountain, one of the 100 most famous mountains in Japan. The soft water, which is soft and tasty, is widely enjoyed by the local people. The facilities are thoroughly sanitized to produce clean koji mold over a long period of time. They are also particular about the balance of acid accents and aroma. In addition, they took the opportunity of the 300th anniversary of the company’s founding to build a new snow cellar storage facility. The entire cellar is cooled year-round by the power of natural snow, and the entire cellar can now be kept at a nearly constant temperature. All sake produced at the Aoki Brewery is stored in this cold storage facility, which utilizes natural clean energy, and is shipped fresh.

Since all alcoholic beverages in Japan are exempted from the labeling of expiration dates, sake is also not required to display an expiration date, and most sake is labeled with only the date of manufacture. However, temperature control is essential to preserve the sake’s aroma and flavor. The temperature in the snow cellar is kept at a constant level of approximately 4°C. The area dedicated to long-term storage can maintain a temperature of -5°C year-round with the help of electricity. The ability to store sake for 5, 10, or even longer periods of time allows Aoki Sake Brewery to explore the possibility of producing long-aged sake and other products. Aoki says that since the sake can be stored for five, ten, or even more years, the brewery would like to explore the possibility of producing long-aged sake. Aoki Brewery is also taking on the challenge of new brewing possibilities by further evolving the wisdom it has developed over the region’s history of working with snow.

Sake brewing for the future

Aoki Sake Brewery has a long history of 300 years since the Edo period, and its traditions have been handed down from generation to generation. Higuchi says it is important to continue this tradition in the future. We will continue to brew sake diligently, carefully, and honestly. Polishing politeness and taking on the challenge of brewing sake in line with the times are the motto of the current Aoki Sake Brewery. The ideal of sake brewing in the snow country will surely be steadily passed on to the future.

The post Aoki Sake Brewery, a 300-year-old Echigo toji (master brewer) who has handed down the unique sake brewing tradition of the snow country / Minamiuonuma City, Niigata Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

Asahi Shuzo Co., Ltd. has ignited the sake boom not only in Japan but also overseas. The company is best known for its famous sake Ottersai. Ottersai” has made great strides in unconventional ways as a sake brewer and continues to be loved both in Japan and abroad, and it seems to have reached its zenith.

Sake Brewing: Turning Pins into Opportunities

Iwakuni City is located in the eastern part of Yamaguchi Prefecture. As you drive through the mountains on Prefectural Route 5, a 12-story building suddenly appears. This modern brewery, unusual for a sake brewery, was established in 1770 and has a history of more than 200 years . It is here that the world-famous sake Ottersai is made.

Hiroshi Sakurai, the current chairman and creator of Otters, worked for a major sake brewer after graduating from university. He then joined Asahi Sake Brewery, but due to differences of opinion with his predecessor, he left the company at one point to run a stone business.

In 1984. However, Japan was in the midst of an unprecedented shochu boom, and sales of sake plummeted. In this era, sake was sold cheaply and consumed in large quantities. The Asahi Fuji, the signature product at the time, was not selling well, and the Asahi Shuzo’s business was declining year by year. Despite efforts to do something about it, local wholesalers would not take the company seriously.

However, Mr. Sakurai, faced with this major crisis, began to sort out the essential problems of sake brewing, one by one.

The Birth of “Otters” – Truly Delicious Sake

The company’s strategy for survival was to create “truly delicious sake. A sake brewery with no name recognition in rural Yamaguchi had no chance if it tried to compete with the thin profit margins that were the mainstream in the sake industry at the time. The sake brewery chose “Junmai Daiginjo” because of its high unit price and appealing value.

Sake is classified according to the ingredients and the ratio of polished rice. Among these, junmai daiginjo is made from only rice, rice malt, and water.

It is made by fermenting rice with a milling ratio of 50% or less for a long period of time at a low temperature, and is characterized by the original flavor and richness of the rice and a sweet, fruity aroma known as ginjo kojo. The low-temperature, slow maturation process is costly and time-consuming, resulting in a higher price for sake. The aim is to raise the value of the product by producing a valuable and delicious sake.

However, no matter how good the sake is, people will not pick it up if it is still called Asahi Fuji. A new brand was needed. The name of the place where the brewery is located, Osogoe, comes from an old legend that an otter crossed the mountain and came here.

There was a Chinese legend called “ottersai,” which originated from the unique behavior of otters in laying out their catch on the riverbanks, which looked like enshrining (=sacrificing) offerings to the gods and Buddha. We decided to name the brewery “Otters” after one of the haiku names of Masaoka Shiki, who revolutionized the literary world during the Meiji period, “Ottersho-ya Shojin” (Ottersho-ya: master calligrapher), as it was the perfect name for the sake we were trying to brew innovatively from deep in these mountains.

The Struggle to Create Truly Delicious Sake

However, although he had worked for a major sake brewer after graduating, he was a complete novice in the art of sake brewing. Therefore, he tried everything he could, including visiting breweries with good reputations and imitating ginjo-shu, which is said to be very tasty. The toji brewed sake based on the information Mr. Sakurai had gathered, quantified everything, and repeated trial and error based on the data. A university professor even scolded him, saying that mass-producing junmai daiginjo was an affront to the toji’s feelings, but there is no greater strength than experience.

Finally, in 1990, after six years of work, they were able to sell junmai daiginjo-shu with rice polishing ratios of 50% and 45%. Until the completion of the brewery, “we had to endure the hardships of crawling on the ground,” Mr. Sakurai recalls. Mr. Sakurai recalls his efforts.

From the beginning of the development, he had decided to focus on the Tokyo market. It was obvious to him that sales would taper off in the small local market. Mr. Sakurai himself actively engaged in sales activities by visiting liquor stores and restaurants. At the time of the launch, the bubble economy had just burst, and izakayas (Japanese-style pubs) were beginning to replace closed bars and other establishments in prime areas of Ginza. We were lucky that many of them favored high-priced sake such as Otters. As word of Otters gradually spread among Yamaguchi Prefecture residents in Tokyo, more and more restaurants began to carry the brand, and it got off to a good start.

The Challenge of Making an Industry-Leading Junmai Daiginjo

The sake industry has long delivered products to consumers such as restaurants through wholesalers, and the relationship with wholesalers has greatly influenced the volume of sales. The reality was that the sake that sold well was not necessarily the sake that consumers were looking for.

However, if things continue as they are, the sake industry will continue to decline. Mr. Sakurai, who was rethinking the old system and thinking of ways to deliver truly delicious sake to as many people as possible, decided to start direct dealings with only those sake retailers who would sell the sake they made in proper conditions. He also spared no pains to have his employees visit sales outlets across the country to check the sales environment. They saw with their own eyes and experienced firsthand what the market was like.

Good sake can be found anywhere in Japan. In order to strongly emphasize their own selling point, the next challenge was to develop a junmai daiginjo called “Otter Festival Polishing 20% to 30%,” which boasts an industry-leading rice polishing rate of 23%.

Thorough labor and cost

By using brown rice with 77% of the surface removed, it is possible to express a clear flavor with no cloying taste and a profoundly delicious taste. However, this was not an easy task. If the rice is too polished, it tastes uninteresting.

For this reason, we repeated verification in every detail, including work that is more reproducible using machines and delicate work that can only be done by human hands. We have thoroughly gone through and improved the efficiency, the leading lines, and the subtle changes.

In addition, all rice used is Yamada-Nishiki.

Yamada-Nishiki is characterized by its low fat and protein content, and its large grain size, which makes it easy to polish. It is also highly water absorbent, which makes it easy to produce good koji, and is so well-balanced that it is considered the king of sake rice, making it easy to produce sake that reflects the brewer’s intentions.

However, even the same rice can absorb water differently depending on the field from which it was harvested, so the rice is washed by hand to accommodate the subtle differences.

In addition, when moving steamed rice to the floor, the rice is carried by hand to prevent moisture imbalance and changes in rice quality.

Since koji production is said to affect more than 50% of sake brewing, the condition of the koji is analyzed by machine every day and fine adjustments are made by hand.

Otters Polishing and Twenty-Three Percent Polishing” is the result of a balance between man and machine.

The one and only junmai daiginjo “Ottersai Polished 20% Sanbu” was created by balancing human experience and intuition with data and machines, and has become Asahi Shuzo’s golden signature.

The unique junmai daiginjo “Otter Festival: Polishing 20% Sanbun” became Asahi Shuzo’s gold standard. With its fruity flavor and lack of cloying taste, it was accepted by young people and women who had never drunk sake before, and the company’s business grew dramatically. The company’s pursuit of “making sake that we think tastes good” was accepted by the market.

The company did not do any flashy publicity for the Otters brand, but rather valued its origins. This approach to sake brewing slowly became known by word of mouth, and as the media began to pick up on it, the reputation of the company grew, and the brand became extremely well known and powerful.

The Farewell to the Toji System Behind the Success of Sake Brewing

Sake brewing is generally a seasonal job, and in most cases, brewers come to work only during the brewing season and return to their main jobs, such as farming, after the brewing season is over. In some cases, the brewers could not participate in the brewing process until they had finished their main job, which was not very flexible and sometimes hindered the freedom of the brewers to make sake. The aging of the workforce has also become an issue, and in order to pass on the Toji’s skills, which belong to the individual, it is necessary to pass the baton to younger, more talented people.

However, stable year-round employment is a prerequisite for this. Mr. Sakurai decided to enter the microbrewery business in 1999, believing that he could secure stable employment for his staff if there were jobs available during the summer months. He thought that if he could combine the busy summer production of microbreweries with the winter production of sake, he would be able to create year-round employment and recruit young people for the manufacturing sector.

However, the business failed after only three months and they were saddled with a large amount of debt. The veteran toji, who had heard rumors of the brewery’s financial difficulties, left the brewery that year.

Forced to make sake on his own, Mr. Sakurai decided to take on the role of toji himself and start producing junmai daiginjo with five employees taking over the brewery’s brewery staff. Fortunately, the trend of the times was toward sake brewing that did not rely on a toji, and Mr. Sakurai began to compile a manual based on the data he had accumulated. Once he started brewing sake without a toji based on the manual, it became possible for him to have unprecedented freedom of thought, such as “I would like to make this kind of sake. This led Mr. Sakurai to change to four-season brewing so that sake could be made year-round. As a result, he is now able to employ people year-round, and is hiring younger generations.

What is truly delicious sake?

The brewery had previously exceeded its production capacity, so it took 10 years to build a rice mill, a new warehouse, a new refrigerator, and a second warehouse. 2015 saw the completion of the 12-story main warehouse.

The company wanted to build along the bushes, but it was difficult to secure a large enough flat area to build a brewery, so it had no choice but to extend vertically. However, this increased production efficiency, and production capacity exceeded 4 million bottles per square meter. Asahi Sake Brewery, once one of the lowest-selling breweries in its hometown of Iwakuni, was ranked in the top 10 sake breweries in terms of sales in FY2016, becoming a major sake brewer in both name and reality.

Asahi Sake Brewery currently employs more than 170 production staff out of a total of 240 employees. The average age of the employees is a surprising 28 years old. The young power comes not only from the local area, but also from all over the country. Of course, they are conscious of maintaining a balance by bringing in experienced workers for positions where experience is of the essence.

Mr. Sakurai smiles as he explains that the system was created to provide a professional environment for sake brewers to gain experience, a system that was not bound by the old rules, but was created through the clumsy efforts of the brewery.

Everyone starts out as an amateur. He says that everything in this world is subject to change, and he is still in the process of evolving so that he can pursue and provide delicious food even as things change.

Things that should be changed because they are important

Mr. Sakurai says that he thinks in this way. If we want to carry on the traditional methods and culture that have been handed down from generation to generation, we should not just do it out of inertia, without considering the reasons for doing so. Because they are important, they must evolve.

With this in mind, he started the “Yamada Nishiki Beyond the Best Project,” a contest held for Yamada Nishiki farmers throughout Japan under contract with Asahi Shuzo in the hope that it will encourage sake rice farmers to dream. The contest is titled “Challenge to surpass the Yamada-Nishiki of the past.

The winner will receive 500,000 yen per bale, 25 times the market price. 50 bales (3 tons) or more is the minimum entry unit, so the actual prize money will be more than 25 million yen.

The rice that wins the contest will be used to make Otters’ top-quality sake. This contest has led to the production of “Yamada Nishiki for Otters” in regions that have not actively produced Yamada Nishiki in the past. This has created a new wind in the environment surrounding Yamada-Nishiki and has created a virtuous cycle that enables good sake brewing.

Toward World Recognition of Japanese Sake

The Challenge of Local Production in New York

A bottle of Romanée Conti, a well-known luxury wine, costs more than 1 million yen. Sake is no less valuable. However, in order to have its value recognized, it was necessary to let the industry as a whole and consumers alike know that there is a climate in which sake is appreciated even if the price is high. Mr. Sakurai believed that a shortcut to this end would be to have Otters recognized in overseas markets.

In the early 2000s, when Otters was just getting off the ground, Mr. Sakurai heard that there were many repeat customers of Otters at Japanese restaurants in New York. Anticipating the declining population in Japan, he began to expand the market overseas around 2003. Starting in Taiwan and steadily expanding to the U.S. and France, Otter’s name recognition continued to climb the stairs to world-class status, as he had hoped.

In 2018, the company also collaborated with French master Joel Robuchon in Paris. By 2022, Otters will be shipped to approximately 30 countries, and the world will continue to recognize its legitimate value as “delicious sake.

The next challenge is local production in the United States. In 2019, the company will begin construction of a sake brewery in New York City, with the goal of producing sake locally and not for export so that people can drink truly delicious sake. They plan to have a production capacity of 7,000 koku (700,000 bottles).

They want to create a system that can instantly grasp and respond to market changes and demands that can only be sensed when they are in the United States.

Thoughts on the Future

I am a runner who is three laps behind. I have been running straight and earnestly, clumsily. Success is the luck of the hour, but I think it is necessary to choose something that has a high probability of success. I want to continue to make delicious sake that involves the world and makes people happy,” Sakurai says.

My dream is to make sake on the moon. His carefree smile has a mysterious power to convince us that it is not only the taste of sake, but also his unconventional passion for sake brewing that has attracted so many people.

The post The Asahi Shuzo Brewery, which produces the famous sake “Otters” loved around the world, is aiming for a better future / Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

Located near JR Fukui Station in the central city center of Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture, the brewery Tokoyama Shuzo’s representative brand is “Jozan,” known for its crisp, clear, dry taste, which has gained in maturity since Shinpei Tsuneyama, the ninth-generation master brewer, became master brewer. The mother and son, who inherited the spirit of their father, who passed away suddenly in the middle of his career, have further deepened the flavor of the sake to make it dryer and more suitable for today’s palate.

What is the ninth generation’s goal in sake brewing?

The Tsuneyama Brewery was founded in 1804, in the late Edo period. It is the oldest brewery in Fukui City. The brewery began as a purveyor to the Fukui clan, and by the Taisho era (1912-1926), it had become the largest sake brewery in Fukui City. Each time, the brewery was revived with the support of drinkers, and the family business has continued to carefully produce sake.

In 2022, Shinpei Tsuneyama will take over as the ninth head of the brewery, passing the baton from his mother, the eighth generation. He renewed the lineup of “Tsuneyama,” the brewery’s flagship brand. Based on the concept of “Koshiyama Wakamizu,” a term used to describe the natural beauty of Fukui Prefecture and its water, the brewery uses Miyamanishiki and Yamadanishiki sake rice grown by contract farmers in the Miyama area in the mountains of eastern Fukui City , Gohyakumangoku and Sakahomare, which were developed by Fukui Prefecture, and Fukui’s own proprietary yeast.

The series’ white labels are designed by Shogo Kizumino, a graphic designer who has worked on the “JAL SKY MUSEUN” and Lotte’s “ZERO” series. The white color of the label, which evokes the image of rice, is designed to be a bridge between rice and food, while the logo is reminiscent of the mountains and sea of Echizen.

The three main flavors are junmai dry “Cho,” junmai ginjo dry “Tobi,” and junmai daiginjo mellow dry “Kyoku. They are characterized by a dry, crisp taste that goes down the throat easily and harmonizes well not only with delicately flavored seafood, but also with today’s fatty meals. It combines the profound flavor of the mountains of Echizen with the fresh minerality and spiciness of the sea of Wakasa, resulting in a taste that is more than just light and refreshing.

Attention to detail to remove miscellaneous flavors

The sake is clear, transparent, and full of umami, with a great impact and sharpness. How is such sake made?

When you visit the Tsuneyama Brewery, you will notice that everything in the office and workshop is neat and tidy. Under the motto “Sake making starts with the environment,” the entire staff thoroughly cleans up every morning before work. The rice is carried by hand instead of using an air shooter, which is generally used to carry rice in a sake brewery. The sake is then transported by hand, for fear that the small amount of rice that remains will lead to a bad taste. In the pursuit of a clear, transparent flavor, we became concerned about areas that we thought could cause a tangy taste,” said Shinpei. By reviewing each step of the brewing process in detail, the brewery was able to produce a flavor that was closer to the ideal.

No stress on yeast during fermentation

The tanks used to brew sake were also carefully selected. In September, when the brewing process at Tsuneyama Brewery begins, the outside temperature can still exceed 30 degrees Celsius on some days. At the end of the brewing process, the tanks are cooled to add sweetness to the flavor. To prevent stress on the yeast, special tanks are used that are less affected by the temperature difference from the outside air. Shinpei says, “In order to deeply pursue the flavor, it was also important to select the tank itself.

In addition, the temperature in the brewery is strictly controlled, including ice temperature control after pressing and rapid heating and cooling during bottling, while sake retailers are also carefully selected for their ability to control temperatures.

Developed by his father, the previous generation, the flavor goes well with Fukui’s specialties.

Mr. Shimpei is dedicated to the dry taste of the famous sake “Tsuneyama” and continues to update it to suit the modern age. At the root of his efforts is his love for his father, who died in the middle of his career.

In the past, the Tsuneyama Shuzo brewery mainly produced an ordinary sake called “Hanejyu Masamune” for a long time. However, his father, Hideaki, the seventh generation, foresaw the coming of a new age of sake and introduced “Tsuneyama” as a new junmai sake in 1997. The sake was developed to suit the fresh seafood caught in Fukui’s seas, and is characterized by its elegant ginjo aroma, smooth and fresh mouthfeel, and crisp aftertaste. It was also well received as a perfect partner for ” oroshi soba, ” a specialty of Fukui, as it did not interfere with the delicate aroma of the soba and went well with the freshness of grated radish.

Several years later, however, Hideaki passed away suddenly at the age of 48, halfway through his quest to popularize “Tsuneyama. Shinpei was only 19 years old and a college student at the time, so his mother, Yukiko, succeeded him.

Mother, the 8th generation, established the Tsuneyama brand

First, Yukiko carefully selected sake dealers for a specific brand of “Tsuneyama” to maintain the quality of sake. She also researched sake rice and rice polishing ratios in search of the best sharpness to enhance the lineup of “Tsuneyama,” which is based on the concept of dryness. Normally, the sake strength of “6” is considered to be very dry, but the company has made a move toward dryness by producing “Super Dry,” a junmai daiginjo sake with a sake strength of around “8,” and “Tobikkiri Dry,” an ultra-harsh raw sake with a sake strength of around “21.

The key to making dry sake is to keep the yeast strong during the fermentation period without weakening it, and to strike a balance so as not to produce a cloying taste. This was achieved by the skill of the Nanbu Touji, who supported Hideaki.

Yukiko actively entered their sake in numerous sake competitions, including the ” Wineglass Delicious Sake Award ” to have it evaluated by a third party. The awards also increased their opportunities to be featured in the media. This led to branding and the creation of a taste that matched the modern diet, and the base of “Tsuneyama” was established as the name became well-known among young people and other sake novices.

The young 9th generation takes over the brewery in the new era of sake.

After graduating from university and working in sales at a major sake brewing company, Shinpei returned to his hometown in 2011 and joined the Tsuneyama Brewery. At that time, “Otters” and “Kajinin Kuheiji” were beginning to gain recognition in the global market, riding on the back of the Japanese food boom overseas. With the dawn of a new era of Japanese sake as a tailwind, he began brewing his own sake.

In his fourth year of brewing sake, he won the gold medal at the National New Sake Competition.

Although born into a family of brewers, Shinpei was a complete amateur as an actual sake brewer and did not major in agriculture at university. He was taught from the ground up by a veteran toji, who had worked with his father and mother in the sake brewing industry. I was under a lot of pressure to make sake somehow,” he says.

He did not try to be eccentric, but instead carefully learned the basics one by one, sometimes going to other breweries to learn from them. In his fourth year of sake brewing, the sake he produced won a gold medal at the National New Sake Competition.

Three years later, in 2018, the veteran toji who had supported the brewery for so long retired, and Shinpei became the brewing director. That year, the brewery won the Platinum Award, the highest award in the Junmai Daiginjo category, at Kura Master, a prestigious sake competition for food professionals held in France. The sake brewery won gold again in 2020 and 2021 at the same competition, and has since become the focus of attention both at home and abroad.

Sake brewery renovated into a “place of hospitality

While visiting wineries overseas, Shinpei was surprised to learn that most of them offer tours of the production process and wine tasting with detailed explanations. In Japan, there are still many breweries that do not even offer tours of their breweries.

Tsuneyama Brewery is the closest brewery to JR Fukui Station, so it is not uncommon for visitors from other prefectures to apply for tours or to visit the brewery. We will create a place to entertain such visitors. I thought that if we could present our products directly and add value, we could compete at a higher price than usual,” he said.

In 2018, Shinpei and his mother, the 8th generation, began renovating their brewery. They made use of the zelkova beams, which are over 10 meters long in the historic warehouse, and covered the second floor with plaster walls and cedar plank floors to create a multipurpose space that can be used for business meetings and tours. During the brewing season, the aroma of steaming sake rice rises from the barrels on the first floor, making the design more attractive to visitors.

The label design allows visitors to grasp the flavor image at a glance.

During the same period, we also focused on brushing up the labels and packaging, and from 2018 to 2020, we will be working with Hatooba Shoryu, a crest painter from Kyogen, known for designing the crest of the NOHGA HOTEL UENO hotel in Ueno, Tokyo, and his son and daughter, Yohji and Hatooba Shoryu. Yohji and his son were commissioned to create the branding for the company.

The design of the “Araiso,” a freshly pressed, slightly carbonated sake, features an auspicious sea bream jumping on a navy-gray background reminiscent of the Sea of Japan during the New Year’s holiday season. With its cool design, it attracted a lot of attention each time it was released.

Being loved by the local community is the key to winning.

Standing in the new brewery, where the smell of cedar wood still lingers, and looking at the new Tsuneyama lineup that he has created, Shinpei recalls his father, the seventh generation, who said, “Local sake must be loved by the local people. On the day of the opening of the Tsuneyama Brewery, many people from the Miyama area come to the brewery on a shared bus.

Recently, there has been a sake boom overseas, and more and more products that sell well in Japan are being sought after and shipped across the sea. But I believe that sake that sells well in Japan, sake that has been loved for a long time, is local sake that has cherished its hometown,” says Shinpei. It is the local people who will be the first to drink sake, learn about its qualities, and pass them on. It is the local people who will be the first to drink sake, learn about its qualities, and pass them on. This is where the future of sake lies.

The new Tsuneyama series is designed to enhance the taste of Fukui’s fish dishes and sushi. The ninth-generation brewer is looking to the future with eyes brimming with love for his hometown, saying, “I want to create a sake that has a strong presence so that people will know that this is Tsuneyama when they take a sip, and that they will be reminded of the scenery of Fukui when they drink it.

The post Tsuneyama Shuzo” continues to pursue further possibilities of dry sake while inheriting the spirit of its predecessors/Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

In 2018, a young master brewer revived a brewery that was on the verge of going out of business, turned the helm to classic sake brewing, and continues to produce a string of high-profile products. How does he achieve such skill and inquisitiveness?

An up-and-coming toji who is highly respected in the industry

The city of Hirado, Nagasaki Prefecture, is a maritime city consisting of Hirado Island, which stretches long and narrow from north to south, and about 40 islands of various sizes scattered around the island. Known as “Philando” during the Age of Discovery, the city has developed as a trading center for people traveling between Japan and other countries. The scenery of the castle town, with its elegant rows of town houses, still remains, reminding us of the bustle of the old days.

In a corner of the town is the Mori Sake Brewery, a long-established sake brewery. Founded in 1895 by Kokichi Mori under the trade name “Komatsuya,” the brewery was incorporated in the 1930s and has been in business ever since. Currently, the brewery is headed by the fourth generation, Yukio Mori.

Until about five years ago, this sake brewery was on the verge of going out of business, with an annual production of less than 50 koku (1 koku = approximately 180 liters). Considering that it is generally said that a minimum of 400 koku is needed to run a sake brewery, the situation was quite difficult. The young toji, Yutaro Mori, the fifth generation of the brewery’s founder, was able to break through this situation.

I think anyone who was born in a brewery must have thought at least once about whether or not to take over the brewery,” he said. I was born and raised here, and I didn’t want to see the brewery disappear during my lifetime. That is why, at first, I wanted to preserve the brewery more than I wanted to make sake,” Yutaro recalls.

After deciding to take over the brewery, Yutaro majored in fermentation engineering at a university in Hiroshima. From undergraduate to graduate school, he studied cutting-edge sake brewing at the National Institute of Brewing Science, an independent administrative agency with which he was affiliated. However, his inquisitive mind and skills have already earned him a prominent position in the industry, and he is attracting attention as a “young toji prodigy.

After completing graduate school and three years of training at a sake brewery in Miyagi Prefecture, Yutaro returned to Hirado at the age of 27. Yutaro felt a sense of crisis at the time, as the brewery had been without a toji for many years and had not been able to produce the sake that he wanted.

I believe that good sake is created not only by sake brewing techniques, but also by the environment of the brewery,” he said. In other words, the daily attitude of the brewery will be reflected in the sake. That is what I learned at my training place. However, when I returned to Hirado, the tools were rusty, and the walls and ceiling were covered with mold. It was no longer possible to make sake properly. The first year I spent in Hirado, I first prepared the environment for sake brewing,” he said.

Maintaining a hygienic environment is very important for sake brewing, which requires the power of microorganisms. Yutaro polished all the available tools and machines, left the beams and pillars of the brewery, repainted the walls, and re-poured concrete. The new brewery has a clean production area, a direct sales store in a renovated warehouse that has remained from the time of the company’s founding, and an event space with a classic atmosphere inside the warehouse.

Mastering the art of sake brewing by letting nature take its course

When Yutaro returned to the brewery, there was no toji (master brewer) in charge of sake brewing, and sake made using a simple brewing technique called “liquefaction brewing” was only sold on the island.

Last year, the company introduced the traditional Japanese sake brewing process called “kimoto zukuri, ” which was established in the Edo period (1603-1868). In general, lactic acid for brewing is added to the mother of sake, which is the base of the unrefined sake, but in kimoto-zukuri, the lactic acid produced naturally by lactic acid bacteria is used. The process takes 40 to 45 days to complete, more than double the time required for normal sake brewing, and requires delicate control processes to cope with long-term changes in temperature and humidity.

On the other hand, in the sake brewing process, the yeast grows by natural means, competing with lactic acid bacteria for survival, resulting in the growth of strong and vigorous yeast and smooth fermentation. The various microorganisms produced during the fermentation process also affect the flavor of the sake, which has become increasingly popular among sake connoisseurs in recent years as a rich, full-flavored sake. Sake is also suitable for long-term aging, as it matures slowly over time, resulting in a sake with a solid core. Our sake tastes stable even after the bottle is opened, and we are confident of that,” he says proudly.

No Oaring, No Adding Water, No Filtration

Mori Sake Brewery does not use the oar-adding process, which is considered essential for sake brewing. Oaring is a process in which a long oar stick is used to stir the tank of unrefined sake to adjust the temperature and fermentation. In general, oar stirring is done twice a day, but here, the yeast is left to do its work and the natural convection is allowed to take place.

Furthermore, water is not added. Sake has a relatively high alcohol content among sake breweries worldwide, so most breweries add water to reduce the percentage of alcohol and adjust the balance of flavor. In addition, sake is not filtered to remove nigori (a thickening of the sake liquor) or to improve the aroma. Yutaro says, “For me, the best sake is the one that tastes the best when it is squeezed, so filtering or adding water is not part of my sake quality design.

Spreading the Terroir of Hirado to the Nation and the World

The main brand of Mori Sake Brewery is the “Hiran” series. Hiran” is the old name for Hirado. Mori Sake Brewery has been brewing sake with a focus on the local climate and hopes that the terroir (local character) of Hirado will be conveyed to the drinker as well. There is a wide range of varieties, from fruity and light, to deep-flavored, crisp and refreshing, to light and unctuous, perfect as an in-between-dinner drink.

For the water used as a raw material, the company has been using the famous water that springs from the foot of Saikyoji Temple, located about 1 km away from the brewery since its establishment. In addition to Yamadanishiki rice, which is known as the best sake rice for brewing sake, Nagasaki’s edible rice “Nikkomaru” is used. The sake has a sour and moderately bitter taste that is intended to complement meals and be both tasty and sharp, making it an irresistibly drinkable sake.

Nagasaki does not have its own sake rice, but as a Nagasaki brewery, we wanted to make it unique. We tried Nikkomaru. The flavor of Nikomaru is effective in its mild aroma, but it is also a sake that can be drunk without hesitation as a mealtime sake. Yutaro says, “Just like the origin of the name Nikkomaru, which means ‘to make you smile when you eat,’ our goal is to create a sake that will naturally make you smile when you drink it.

Brewed in harmony with nature, without overdoing it in terms of ingredients and brewing methods, “Hiran” won a gold medal at the “KuraMaster” sake competition held in France in 2021, the second highest award after the platinum medal. It was also awarded a gold medal at the UK’s KuraMaster competition, and is highly acclaimed overseas.

Cutting down the amount of ingredients to get closer to the natural one

Mr. Yutaro says that in the future he would like to be even more particular about his ingredients, and would like to use pesticide-free rice as well. His original decision to try out the kamishibashi method of sake brewing came from a single-minded desire to use a more natural production method.

I have a sensitive skin myself, and when I was growing rice, the pesticides made my skin rough,” Yutaro said. I wanted to reduce the amount of non-natural ingredients in the products that we put into our bodies, if possible, and that’s how I started making sake. Labor saving through rationality is also revolutionary, and it is because of this that sake brewing is flourishing today. If there are a variety of options, I would like to make sake in accordance with the flow of nature, not in accordance with the convenience of others.

Yutaro is not only pursuing the taste of sake, but also the background of sake production, including society, the natural environment, and the coexistence of humans and microorganisms. Ultimately, I’m aiming for about 1,000 koku. If I go beyond that, I won’t be able to keep my eye on things. First of all, I will work hard to achieve a reasonable scale that suits this brewery.

In a sense, Mori Brewery appears to be a cutting-edge sake brewery, embodying the ” coexistence with nature ” that has been lost in the rapidly changing times. In a sense, it is a cutting-edge sake brewery. This is exactly what his father, Yukio, meant when he said, “Sake brewing that connects us to each other.

The post Up-and-coming master brewer has returned to his roots in sake brewing “Mori Sake Brewery”/Hirado City, Nagasaki Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

While Fushimi in Kyoto and Nada in Kobe are the most famous sake breweries in the Kansai region, Shiga Prefecture is also home to a large number of sake breweries that produce highly distinctive yet high quality sake. One brewery in particular that has a strong presence in the hearts of sake fans is Mifuku Shuzo, located in Minakuchi, a post town on the 53rd leg of the Tokaido Highway.

Shiga, the Undiscovered Sake Kingdom

Shiga Prefecture is actually a “sake kingdom” for those in the know.

Surrounded by high mountains and blessed with an abundance of underground water, the prefecture is also the home of Omi rice, a brand-name rice. The region is blessed with clean water and delicious rice, both of which are necessary for sake brewing.

Another important point is that the area has long been a strategic location for transportation. Sake was needed to entertain travelers along the Tokaido, Nakasendo, Wakasa Kaido, and other major highways in the prefecture. For this reason, there are many breweries with long histories.

Today, about 30 sake breweries in Shiga Prefecture are scattered around Lake Biwa, and each brewery produces a different type of sake. Every sake brewery in Shiga Prefecture has a strong individuality. The fact that Lake Biwa is located in the center of the prefecture makes it difficult for breweries to come and go between each other, and this may be the result of their unique development,” says Noriyuki Fujii, the fourth president of Mitomiku Shuzo.

A brewery along the Tokaido Highway for 105 years

Among Shiga’s unique sake breweries, one that stands out for its aggressive approach to sake brewing is Mitomiku Shuzo.

The company was founded in 1917. The founder, who was born the third son of the Fujii family of sake breweries in Aisho-cho, located on the east side of Lake Biwa, branched out and established a brewery along the Tokaido Highway in Minakuchi-cho, Koka City, Shiga Prefecture.

As the word “mizu” in the name implies, Mizuguchi-cho is blessed with delicious water. Sake brewing using subterranean water from the Suzuka Mountains to the east of the town is very active, and five breweries are concentrated in Minakuchi-cho.

In such a town of Mizuguchi, Mitomiku Sake Brewery has continued to produce sake that focuses on the “umami of rice” using sake rice grown by local contract farmers.

Mitomihisa Brewery’s two top breweries, Yamahai brewing and Ginjo brewing

Mitomiku Brewery’s sake is made with water pumped from its own wells and fed by the Yasu River, a first-class river in Shiga Prefecture that originates in the Suzuka mountain range. The soft water, which contains just the right amount of minerals, has a refreshing taste and is not too sticky.

Among the sake brewed with this water, the Yamahai-brewed sake and theGinjo-brewed sake are especially highly acclaimed. These are the two mainstays of the Mitomiku Brewery.

Yamahai-brewing” has been maintained since the brewery’s founding.

Yamahai brewing is a traditional natural brewing method that uses natural lactic acid bacteria living in the brewery to grow the sake mother, which is the foundation of sake.

It takes about three times longer than normal sake brewing and requires delicate temperature control due to the natural process, but it produces a richer, more acidic sake with a fuller, richer flavor with more breadth and depth than ordinary sake. For this reason, Mitomiku Sake Brewery has maintained the tradition of Yamahai brewing since its establishment.

Mitomiku’s “Yamahai” sake has a clear and distinct character, yet is broad in flavor, and many of them are excellent as a mid-meal sake. It is also suitable for heating sake, and has won gold and top gold medals at the National Heated Sake Contest.

Ginjo Brewing,” which has won numerous awards both in Japan and abroad

Another pillar of the Mitomiku Brewery is the ginjo brewing process, which utilizes modern sake brewing techniques.

In contrast to the Yamahai brewing method, which uses naturally occurring lactic acid bacteria to prepare the sake mother, the Ginjo brewing method uses artificial lactic acid to prepare the sake mother, called “Sokusho-moto.

The main advantages of the “Sokusho-moto” method are shorter brewing time and a more gorgeous aroma.

Like Yamahai-brewed sake, Mifuku’s ginjo-brewed sake has a pronounced rice flavor. The fruity and gorgeous ginjo aroma is followed by the sweetness of the rice that spreads in the mouth. The “umami of rice” is expressed in a different way from that of Yamahai-brewed sake.

Its deliciousness has been highly acclaimed at domestic and international competitions, winning gold medals and gold medals at the ” IWC (International Wine Challenge),” the ” London SAKE Challenge,” and the ” Delicious Sake in a Wineglass Award, ” among others. Some Junmai Daiginjo-shu has been selected as a first-class in-flight drink on major airlines’ international flights.

Among these ginjo-shu, Mr. Fujii is particularly attached to ” Sanrensei,” a brand that has become synonymous with Mitomiku Shuzo. The following is the story of its birth.

I want to compete with my own brand.

After graduating from university, Mr. Fujii trained at a sake brewery in Gifu Prefecture before returning to his birthplace, Mitomiku Brewery, in 2005 to work on sake brewing.

As he began to focus on traveling throughout Japan to sell his products, Mr. Fujii gradually came to realize that he wanted to compete with his own brand.

If I am going to go to the trouble, I want to make sake that is different from the traditional “Mitomiku sake. Therefore, he decided to make a ginjo type sake with a crisp and gorgeous flavor, which is the opposite of the full-flavored Yamahai brewing method.

The “three stars” created with young brewers

In 2007, Mr. Fujii and three young brewers created ” Sanrenboshi ” through a process of trial and error. It has now grown to become one of the company’s representative brands and has made the name of Mitomiku Sake Brewery well known throughout the country. Three generations of sake rice, Wataribune Roku, Yamadanishiki, and Ginfubuki, are used to make three types of sake :Junmai Daiginjo-shu made with Wataribune Roku, Junmai Ginjo-shu made with Yamadanishiki, and Junmai Shu made with Ginfubuki. Three makers, three generations of sake rice, three types of sake, and three themes. The name “Triple Star” was chosen to represent the three “3s” in a row, so that the sake would shine like a star. The name “Triple Star” is based on such a wish.

Because of the freshness of the sake, the “Sanrensei” is a limited distribution sake, sold only to specific stores. The method of hi-ire has been tried and tested, and the “Sannrenboshi Junmai Ginjo Yamadanishiki” is cooled rapidly after hi-ire using a plate heater to lock in the freshness of the sake. The brewer says it succeeded in creating a taste “fresher than that of unpasteurized sake.

Extra Edition” boldly tackles test brewing

Sangrensei also has an ” Extra Series, ” in which three types of sake are test-brewed each year under a different theme, such as using sake rice or yeast not normally used in the brewery. The results are used in future sake brewing.

Because of the trial and error involved in the search for the ideal flavor, Sannrenboshi ” took a long time to perfect its taste, ” says Fujii. However, as of 2022, the 15th anniversary of its debut, Mitsuboshi Junmai Sake has grown to the point where Fujii recommends it as ” the first bottle of sake to get to know Mitomiku Brewery.

More “easy-to-drink” sake. The challenge to increase the variety of sake continues.

After creating a brand that has become synonymous with the brewery, Mr. Fujii and his team continue to take on new challenges and increase the variety of their offerings.

In the summer of 2021, “Shippo,” a sake aimed at a new fan base, will make its debut. Shippo Mifuku Sparkling,” a sparkling sake with secondary fermentation in the bottle, has an aroma reminiscent of champagne when the glass is tipped, and a light and pleasant mouthfeel that pops and pops. The label design also makes it easy to approach, making even those who might be intimidated by the word “sake” feel compelled to pick it up.

New Possibilities Discovered with “Kimoto” Sake

In the spring of 2022, “Sannrensei,” a sake made using the “kimoto” method of sake making, will make its debut.

The process of making sake by using natural bacteria is similar to the Yamahai method, but the process of mashing rice and rice malt, which is omitted in the Yamahai method, is added to the process of growing lactic acid bacteria.

After actually doing this, I discovered that sake made using the kamishibashi methodhas both theprofound flavor of yamahai brewing and the clean, gorgeous taste of ginjo-style brewing. A new pillar has been added to the existing “two pillars.

Of course, we will continue to carefully carry on the standards of Mitomiku, including Yamahai sake. At the same time, we will continue to take on new challenges and expand the scope of our business. In this way, I believe the appeal of sake will transcend national borders and reach even more people.

We will continue to be an “open brewery

While continuing to brew more than 20 varieties of sake per year, including experimental brews, Mr. Fujii has also worked to create a brewery that is open to the local community.

In 2014, when he became the fourth president, he opened a direct sales office in the brewery. Once a month, the brewery began sellingseasonal sake, available only at the brewery, directly from the tanksby weight. This is a popular event that attracts fans from within and outside of the prefecture to purchase the special sake that is not normally available.

In September 2021, a part of the sake brewery will be renovated to open a café called “KAGURA. There is no end to the ideas for expanding the base of sake fans.

What will be born next? One cannot help but feel a sense of anticipation for this “star” that shines brightly among the many unique breweries in Shiga Prefecture.

The post A shining star in the unique sake kingdom of Shiga!　Mitomiku Sake Brewery / Koka City, Shiga Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

With the globalization of food culture, the Japanese diet has undergone rapid changes. The annual per capita consumption of rice in Japan has continued to decline since 1962, finally reaching less than half of its peak in 2020. As the Japanese food culture has declined, sake, which has been enjoyed along with Japanese food, has also been on the decline, being pushed aside in favor of beer and wine. As the market shrinks, simply following the old style will lead to decline. Naotaka Miyasaka, president of the long-established brewery Miyasaka Brewery in Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture, and his son Katsuhiko, also struggling between tradition and respect, have begun a new challenge without giving in to adversity.

Miyasaka Brewery is located near Lake Suwa, the largest lake in Shinshu, and is widely known for its 360-year-old sake called “Masumi,” which is derived from “Masumi no Kagami,” a mirror used at Suwa-taisha Shrine, famous for the Omihashira Festival. The company boasts the largest production volume in Nagano Prefecture and is a nationally renowned sake brewer, but its journey has not been an easy one, according to Katsuhiko, the next head of the company.

History of Miyasaka Brewery

The original Miyasaka family was a vassal of the Suwa family, which ruled the region until the Warring States period. Tossed into the war between Takeda and Oda, they put down their swords and embarked on the sake brewing business. However, as times changed from the Meiji to the Taisho era, and the brewery’s business became difficult, the family switched to miso brewing. Instead, Masaru Miyasaka, the great-grandfather of Katsuhiko Miyasaka, was entrusted to take the helm of the sake brewing business.

Masaru Miyasaka, who was in his 20s at the time, focused on improving the quality of the sake he brewed, dreaming of one day creating the best sake in Japan with other toji of the same age. In 1943, Miyasaka Brewery finally won first place in the National Sake Competition. The company went on to win awards at other prestigious sake competitions, and Miyasaka Brewery, an obscure sake brewery in Shinshu, was thrust into the limelight.

The “No. 7 Yeast” that supported the brewery’s breakthrough

The reason for Masumi’s great leap forward was due in large part to the brewery’s proprietary yeast, “Shichi-go Yeast,” which was eventually recognized as a superior yeast.

Masumi, which repeatedly won top prizes, attracted the attention of many researchers, and as a result, Dr. Shoichi Yamada of the Ministry of Finance’s Brewery Research Institute, the highest authority at the time, visited the brewery to inspect it. This alone was an honor in itself, but after carefully inspecting every corner of the brewery, Dr. Yamada discovered a new type of yeast in the fermenting mash. This was Miyasaka Brewery’s brewery yeast, later named Shichi-go Yeast.

Yeast is a type of fungus used in the fermentation of sake. It is so important that it is said to have a greater influence on sake than rice, especially in the production of aroma components and acidity, which are related to flavor. At that time, there were still many sake breweries that used wild brewer’s yeast, but wild yeast was an unstable fungus that carried risks such as contaminating the brewery.

On the other hand, this No. 7 yeast has stronger fermentation power than conventional yeasts and can ferment even at low temperatures. It is characterized by a clear taste and a gorgeous orange-like aroma, and has less off-flavor that can be produced by high-temperature fermentation. The No. 7 yeast, which has brought a breath of fresh air to the sake industry, was brought back to Japan by Dr. Kikuchi and distributed as “Kyokai Yeast” to sake breweries throughout Japan. The widespread use of Shichi-go Yeast led to an improvement in the quality of the entire industry and contributed greatly to the production of safe and delicious sake. Even today, more than 70 years after its discovery, Shichi-go Yeast is said to be used in more than half of the nation’s sake breweries, and is still enjoyed by sake drinkers.

From Japan to the world. Sake brewing with a global perspective

Anticipating the coming of a new era, Miyasaka Brewery pushed ahead with its expansion into Tokyo. After graduating from Keio University and studying abroad at Gonzaga University in Washington State, the current president Naotaka joined the company in 1983, and began using his study abroad experience to expand overseas sales channels around 2000. In this way, Miyasaka Brewery has continued to produce sake that is in tune with the times, always reading the times and looking ahead to the future.

And now, in 2019. In the new era of the Heisei Era and the 2025 Era, Miyasaka and his son Miyasaka have undertaken a reform. It was a major shift in the brewery’s approach, a return to its roots, to use only the No. 7 yeast, which is synonymous with the brewery’s own yeast.

Switching to the No. 7 yeast yeast

Katsuhiko, who currently serves as the president’s office manager, worked in apparel at a famous Tokyo department store after graduating from university before leaving in 2013 to join the brewery.

However, the sake industry had already begun to diversify, and following trends was no longer the only “right” thing to do. Sake itself has stepped out of the traditional ring and established itself in the world as a “SAKE” along with wine and beer. Katsuhiko felt that in order to compete in this layer, it was necessary to further express his own individuality and attractiveness and “make sake that is different from others. He saw the value in specializing in a narrow field. In 2019, he launched a project to create a new line under the two themes of “individuality unique to Miyasaka Brewery” and “high quality food sake that enhances the flavor of food.

However, it was said that it was difficult to produce a gorgeous flavor with the No. 7 yeast. It took many prototypes and a considerable amount of time to achieve the desired flavor and aroma. Even after the taste was confirmed, it was not easy to unify all the sake brewed with the No. 7 yeast. Sometimes, they even used hints from sake breweries outside of the prefecture.

The four sake products that were released were named “Shinju-AKA,” “Urushukuro-KURO,” “Hakumyo-SHIRO,” and “KAYA. Miyasaka Brewery is proud to have created these sake products through a process of trial and error, so that they can be served with any dish at today’s varied dining tables.

Launched in 2019, this series is appealing for its beautiful water and cool breezy taste of the Suwa region. The rebranding of “Masumi” is an excellent realization of Katsuhiko’s vision of “sake that adds color to the daily dining table. The idea of returning to the basics and innovation was a unique expression of the appeal of the No. 7 yeast.

Miyasaka Brewery’s goal for “Masumi from now on

Miyasaka Brewery, which began to develop products specializing in No. 7 yeast with the aim of entering the global market, also changed its symbol mark to coincide with the rebranding. The company created a simple, sophisticated logo of “a single ivy leaf reflected in a water mirror” from kanji, a powerful and dignified image that is typical of Japanese sake.

Ivy is the family crest of the Miyasaka family. The ivy has been a symbol of prosperity since ancient times. The shape of the ivy leaves reflected in the water mirror and sake cup represents the harmony of the brewer’s philosophy of “harmony, brewing, and good sake,” as well as the circle of the brewery. The duality of tradition and innovation contained in the brand message of “connecting people, nature, and time,” the gentle and harmonious flavor of the No. 7 yeast, and the desire to promote sake culture around the world are all expressed in the symbol.

Incidentally, the symbol mark was chosen for the rebranding so that people overseas who cannot read Japanese will remember Miyasaka Brewery’s sake. We believe that a universally recognized symbol will serve as a bridge to spread Miyasaka Brewery’s sake throughout the world.

Katsuhiko also says that expanding overseas is not only a way to promote sake, but also “an opportunity to reevaluate the value and characteristics of sake and to reaffirm its recognition. For example, when approaching an overseas city where Miyasaka Brewery is barely known, the sake from their own brewery needs to be explained from scratch. Each time, he says, he has to verbalize and explain the brewery’s sake, which in turn deepens his own understanding of Masumi and, by extension, Japanese sake.

When they were looking at overseas expansion and seriously trying to compete on the same layer as the great sake breweries overseas, they strongly felt that inspection visits alone were not enough to gain the knowledge needed to do so. Interaction through business will lead to deeper exchanges and learning.

Compared to wine and beer, the sake industry was like an isolated country. On a global scale, wine has a circulation of 2 trillion yen, while sake still has only about 45 billion yen. The goal for sake in the future is to become a sake that can compete with wine in the global market. Katsuhiko says he hopes Miyasaka Brewery will be able to play a part in this goal. His eyes are already filled with a sense of self-awareness and dignity as the next head of the company.

The post Miyasaka Brewery, which aims to brew sake globally and share its appeal with the world / Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

There is a brewery in Nagasaki that makes sake using the ” Hanegi Shibori” method, which is extremely rare in Japan. The process involves hard labor and is difficult to mass produce, and today there are only a few remaining in Japan. We visited a sake brewery that continues to experiment with the use of ” flower yeast” isolated from flowers in nature, in addition to the “spring wood pressing” method, in order to enhance its unique brand power.

Sake brewing rarely seen in Japan

Minamishimabara City, Nagasaki Prefecture. Yoshidaya, a sake brewery located in Arike-machi, where breweries of soy sauce and miso still remain, has been making sake the old-fashioned way: by using a giant 8-meter-long tree with a weight hanging from it and applying pressure to the unrefined sake using the principle of leverage, the sake is squeezed out by “hitenoki shibori,” a method that is not only labor-intensive but also very expensive. In addition to being very labor-intensive, this method is now rarely seen in Japan, with only about five breweries remaining in the country, as modernization has led many breweries to introduce mechanical presses. Unlike machine pressing, this method produces a very mild and full flavor, and sake made by this method is now rare and precious.

Yoshidaya was founded in 1917. Originally, Yoshidaya was a long-established sake brewery that made sake using the “repellent wood pressing” method, but as time went by, they shifted to machine pressing in the 1970s. By 1984, when the current brewery owner,Yoshiaki Yoshida, returned to Nagasaki after studying brewing at a university in Tokyo, the brewery was producing and selling only a small amount of regular sake, which was well known locally.

The wooden press has been revived again after mechanization.

As the successor to a nearly century-old sake brewery, young Yoshiaki, with high aspirations and a renewed interest in sake brewing, began again to produce so-called “high-end” sake such asginjo-shu andjunmai-shu that meet the requirements for rice polishing ratio and ingredients. However, it was difficult to produce such sake with the facilities of the time, which had minimized the number of production lines, and it was a daily process of repeated trial and error.

Then, Mr. Yoshiaki turned his attention to a piece of wood that had been left untouched in the brewery. The tools were still there, so I decided to take the plunge,” he said. However, there were no personnel who could properly make sake using the wooden press, which he had long since moved away from. After much research based on the records left behind at the brewery and the few memories of the brewers, the wooden press was finally revived in 1997. It had been 13 years since Yoshiaki returned to Nagasaki.

Heavy Labor and All Manual Work

In the “repellent wood pressing” process, bags of unrefined sake are piled in a wooden frame called a “ fune,” and pillows are stacked high on top of the bags. Once the top layer is placed on the top and weights are placed on top, the sake is slowly pressed out by the natural weight of the sake without applying any undue pressure. Although it cannot be mass-produced, the sake is not completely ” squeezed ” like a machine, which removes any residual flavor and gives the sake a clean, gentle taste.

On the other hand, the process requires an extraordinary amount of labor. The tank is so large and deep that the brewer’s upper body is upside down as he piles in the sake bags. Sometimes it takes two people to load the bags, with the other brewer holding the bags in both hands and supporting the legs to prevent them from falling off the head. If there is too much unrefined sake, or if the bags are not stacked properly, the pressure will not be applied properly and the bags may tear, so everything is done by hand, relying on long years of experience and sense.

Sparing no effort and putting in a lot of time and effort

Both the placing of the sleepers and the operation of the amida wheel, which moves the 8-meter-long repellent, are done by hand. Once the wood is placed on the sleeper, the final step is to hang the 60 heavy weights one by one from the roof. The weight of each weight is 16 to 18 kilograms. Each one weighs 16 to 18 kilograms, or about one ton.

Filling, labeling, and shipping are all done by hand. It is precisely because of the careful, meticulous, and painstaking effort that goes into each step of the process that the sake has a more than profound flavor.

Another special feature of “flower yeast

Yeast is one of the ingredients that greatly affects the taste of sake. Since different types of yeastproduce different aromas and flavors, the choice of yeast is an important factor in sake brewing. Typical yeasts include ” Kyokai Yeast ” and ” Prefecture Yeast “.

Yoshidaya uses a type of yeast called ” hana-yeast,” which is a natural sake yeast that exists in nature and is neither of these. Yeast exists everywhere in nature, but it is especially abundant in flowers and fruits. The ” Flower Yeast Research Group ” of the Tokyo University of Agriculture, which has focused its attention on this issue, has succeeded in isolating yeast from flowers for the first time in the world. Currently, more than a dozen types of flower yeast are in practical use. Since this university is the alma mater of Mr. Yoshiaki, he has had the opportunity to use flower yeast from the time of its development.

When one hears the term “flower yeast,” the image of a strong and gorgeous aroma comes to mind, but Kamiaki says, “Rather than being aromatic, the appeal of flower yeast is the wide range of flavors it offers. I change the brewing method according to the yeast, asking myself, “What flavor will this yeast give me? We are constantly researching, trying to find out what kind of flavor this yeast will produce, and changing the brewing process to match the yeast,” he says.

Different types of flowers have different fermentation characteristics.

The “Hanegi-shibori Junmai Ginjo-shu” using nadeshiko yeast has a gorgeous aroma and a dry, yet moist sweet taste that spreads in the mouth.

Junmai Daiginjyo Seisen Seisen Seijo Nagare (Junmai Daiginjyo Seisen Sekijo Nagare),” popular for its sweet and fruity aroma like a fruit wine, uses abelia yeast. It is a confident product with an elegant and smooth taste, but with a refreshing sharpness after drinking.

The next generation of brewers is working on a new flower yeast.

Another notable product is ” BANG,” a junmai ginjo-shu developed by his son Kaichiro (5th generation) after he returned to the brewery following his training. Although the sake has an alcohol content of 16%, it has a light flavor with a refreshing sweetness that does not give the impression of being strong. The new brand opens a new door for Yoshidaya by using oscillating banana yeast for the first time, and the name “BANG” is derived from Yoshidaya’s long-established brand name ” Bansho,” which shows the aspirations of the next generation to carry on the good old traditions.

The name “BANG” is derived from Yoshidaya’s long-established brand name “Mansho! The name “Bansho” is derived from Yoshidaya’s long-established brand name, “Mansho”. I hope you will enjoy it at various temperatures, as its expression changes dramatically with changes in temperature,” says Kaichiro.

Products Other Than Sake Gaining Momentum

Other products include “Hanegi Shibori Junmai Sake” made with Tsurubara yeast, which balances sweetness, acidity, pleasant bitterness, and a full-bodied umami flavor, and ” Himawari Yeast Sake,” a special junmai sake with a refreshing summery flavor reminiscent of fresh fruit with a slight sourness. Yoshidaya uses floral yeast in all of its brands. Yoshidaya says, “There are still many new things coming out with hana-yeast, and we don’t know much about it yet. That’s why we are looking forward to it.

In addition to sake, other products such as ” Umeshu ” (plum wine) based on sake and ” Hyakunen Amazake” (sweet sake made by naturally fermenting rice malt in a bottle) are also gaining popularity. The amazake won the top prize (2018) at the “Treasures of Japan” world competition.

We want to spread Nagasaki’s sake throughout the country.

While his predecessor once steered the company toward mechanization, Yoshiaki Yoshiaki, the fourth generation, revived the old traditional method of repellent wood pressing in the modern age and pioneered his own unique line of flower yeast. The fifth generation, KAICHIRO, continues to try to incorporate new sake brewing knowledge and techniques into the brewery. Sake is made in the cold season, and it has long been believed that sake is best made in colder regions. The fact that Mr. and Mrs. Yoshida are taking no notice of this and are enthusiastic about sake brewing in Nagasaki is rather refreshing.

It is still not uncommon for people to be surprised to hear, “Sake is made in Nagasaki, too? It is still not uncommon for people to be surprised to hear, “Sake is made in Nagasaki, too! I hope that we can change these conventional values, even if only slightly, and grow into a sake brewery that is not afraid of change and can proudly present Nagasaki sake to the rest of the country,” he says with a cheerful smile as he speaks strongly about the brewery’s future. Although the brewery is small, with a current production of only 90 koku, I can see a bright future for Nagasaki sake in their persistent belief in their own particular style of sake brewing.

The post Yoshidaya”: Unique sake created from two specialties: “splash wood” and “flower yeast” / Minamishimabara City, Nagasaki Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

Daishinshu Sake Brewery had breweries in the two major cities of Nagano Prefecture, Nagano City and Matsumoto City, respectively. As the name suggests, the brewery brews a brand that is very familiar to the people of Nagano Prefecture, and is widely distributed throughout the prefecture without being influenced by the area.
The Daishinshu Brewery will consolidate its base in Matsumoto City in 2020. The brewery has taken a new step forward in its history.

Pursuing functional beauty over scenic beauty

Daishinshu Sake Brewery was established in 1880 when a sake brewery founded in 1880 under the name “Haradaya” merged with several other breweries in Nagano Prefecture. Although the exact number of breweries at the time does not remain as a record, according to documents and stories passed down from the previous generation, it was a large merger that brought about seven breweries together.

For a while after the merger, each brewery brewed sake on its own, but in 1972, in an effort to improve productivity, they consolidated their brewing facilities in Toyono, Nagano City, and their bottling and shipping facilities in Shimadate, Matsumoto City, and began brewing sake there. However, even though the two bases were consolidated, the distance between them is about 80 km. It is not easy just to transport the products, and it is not efficient because sake brewing cannot be done in a one-stop shop. Although the company had hoped to one day consolidate its operations in a single location, the actual realization of this goal was not easy.

In 2020, however, they finally got their wish and consolidated their operations in Shimadate, Matsumoto City, where Haradaya, which was at the center of the merger, was located. The new building and brewery, which has a completely new image of a sake brewery, is designed to be functional and beautiful, with the highest priority given to the flow and operation of the sake brewing process. Of course, an old and atmospheric sake brewery has a certain elegance that impresses visitors and enhances the taste of sake by its image alone. However, Ryuichi Tanaka, the current president of the company, believes that as a manufacturing company, a legacy that does not function is meaningless, and he is determined to improve productivity and quality so that the company can continue to brew sake in the same way 100 years from now, and in 100 years from now, he hopes that this facility can again be called a legacy of value. The company has chosen to grow even further so that in 100 years’ time, this facility can once again be called a valuable legacy.

The new building is bright and clean, and the employees’ faces and voices are uniformly cheerful. The new Taishinshu Brewery has given up its quaintness and created an environment in which employees can work comfortably. The new Daishinshu Brewery has given up its traditional atmosphere and created an environment where employees can work comfortably.

Daishinshu Brewery’s commitment to dry sake

Daishinshu aims for dry sake with a refreshing apple-like aroma. This aroma is a type of aroma component produced during the sake brewing process, and it is a ginjo aroma characterized by a sweet aroma that can be perceived as pear or pineapple. Daishinshu Sake Brewery, which mainly produces ginjo, has been pursuing this ginjo aroma for a long time. In recent years, the company has been able to extract this aroma all at once using the power of yeast, but President Tanaka says that this is a little too much.

Daishinshu Brewery aims for a sake that is elegant, light, and refined, with hints of apple, citrus, and white grape aromas. These days, sake with such a taste is favored at sake competitions, and it is easier to win awards. However, this is just the current needs of the market, and President Tanaka believes that it is not right to change the taste of sake that one is aiming for just to follow the current trends. He is aiming for a universal and distinctive taste that can be recognized even in a blind tasting as “Daishinshu.

70% of the taste is determined by the ingredients

Therefore, he is particular from the stage of raw material processing. In the new facility, a system has been installed to maintain a constant water temperature for washing rice used for sake. Even if the water temperature rises due to outside temperatures, the rice does not absorb too much water. In the Daishinshu style, the steamed rice is cooled naturally to remove the heat, which improves the “sabake” (texture) of the steamed rice by far. From ginjo-shu for sake competitions to heated sake for local consumption, the steamed rice used for the sake mother and koji are all naturally cooled.

In recent years, few sake breweries use natural cooling for all of their sake because of the time and effort required. However, this is a practice that has been practiced since the old brewery, and we would never think of changing it. For this reason, the new facility has been designed to make the cooling process as easy as possible.

Although there is no visible difference in the type of rice or yeast used to make sake, Daishinshu Brewery believes that the raw materials and their processing determine 70% of the taste, which is why they are so particular about the raw material processing and have created an optimal environment for it. Of course, we are also particular about our ingredients. Currently, all of the sake rice used by Daishinshu Brewery is grown locally under contract. Eighty to ninety percent of it is grown using organic farming methods. The variety is limited to two varieties, Hitogokochi and Kinmon-nishiki, both of which originated in Nagano Prefecture.

Until a few years ago, they also used “Yamadanishiki” and other varieties, but they have switched to all of them. It is true that some brewers still want to use Yamada-Nishiki, and in fact, Yamada-Nishiki is considered the king of sake rice. However, Yamada-Nishiki is a sake rice native to Hyogo Prefecture and is best suited to growing in the climate of Hyogo Prefecture. So, once we decided to use locally grown rice, we thought we should adapt the variety to the growing environment of Nagano Prefecture and control the taste of the sake that our own brewery aims to produce.

Behind this decision is a strong will to maximize the agricultural potential of Nagano Prefecture, which is rich in nature, as the mission of a local company. This commitment to the local community can also be felt in the words posted throughout the brewing room.

Love and Gratitude” for Sake and its Ingredients

The Daishinshu Brewery boasts the largest production volume in Matsumoto City. The new brewing room is designed with work efficiency in mind and feels larger than it actually is because there are almost no obstructions in the room.

The room is so bright and open that it is hard to believe it is a sake brewery, and just by looking around you can tell that it is a comfortable working environment. Looking around the room, one can see signs everywhere.

The words “Love and Gratitude” are written by each employee before the start of the year’s sake brewing. It is a traditional way of marking the beginning of the season at the brewery, and it is written with the intention of expressing love and gratitude for the sake to be made and the natural environment that surrounds the brewery.

The idea that only the best can be made if the brewery is filled with love and gratitude is still alive and well at Daishinshu Sake Brewery. This philosophy has led to facilities that prioritize the work environment and sake brewing that is rooted in the local community.

A mountain is formed by the accumulation of dust

The Daishinshu Sake Brewery has never done anything out of the ordinary, but rather has continued to pursue the taste of its own sake.

The words of the previous master brewer, “I want a harmonious and mild sake,” remain the basis of their brewing to this day, as they strive to create sake that will be loved by all. They do not drastically change the taste of sake or the way it is made, but rather continue to study the basics, believing that the raw materials and the processing of raw materials determine the quality of the sake.

The process is not flashy, but the company takes everything they think is good and updates it one step at a time.

President Tanaka believes that the dust accumulated in this way will eventually form a large mountain that will become a new foundation, and that this is the way the Daishinshu Brewery should be, and he is devoting himself to sake brewing every day with an eye to the next 100 years.

The post Daishinshu Sake Brewery,” which has become a representative sake brewery in Shinshu, confronts the taste of sake it believes in. first appeared on NIHONMONO.