Sake is one of the most popular drinks in Japan. Different rice and water are used in different regions, resulting in sake with different flavors depending on regions.
The relationship with the snow country culture can also be seen in the background of sake.
For example, some sake breweries make good use of the heavy snowfall in their brewing process, such as using melt water and Yukimuro (a insulted room that store massive amount of snow to mature and chill sake).
Rice, an important ingredient in sake brewing, also grows well thanks to the melt water from the snow that accumulates in the winter and melts in the spring. Therefore, some sake breweries benefit indirectly from the snow.
Even if snow is not directly involved in sake brewing, some breweries name their sake after snow-related words. Whether directly or indirectly, snow has an impact on sake culture.
Let's take a look at some of the breweries in Ken-o area, Akita prefecture, Japan.
Where is Ken-o area?
In the central area of the prefecture, there are characteristic festivals with a long history.
In the Oga Peninsula, there is the famous Namahage event in the New Year. (Namahage is a divine messenger who lives in the mountains of Oga to warn people against laziness, ward off bad luck, and bring good harvests and fishing. On the night of New Year's Eve, young men from the village wear masks and straw minnows and go from house to house.)
The Namahage Sedo Festival is known as one of the most popular winter festivals in Oga. In 2018, it was registered as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.
Akita City is home to the Akita Kanto Festival, one of the three largest festivals in Tohoku.
Mt.Chokai, one of the 100 most famous mountains in Japan, stands on the border with Yamagata Prefecture and is a popular spot for mountain climbing. It rises to an altitude of 2,236 meters.
Here are some of the sake breweries in the central area of the prefecture.
Gozyome Town
Here are sake breweries in Gozyome Town.
Fukurokuzyu Shuzo (福禄寿酒造株式会社)
Established in 1688. At the time of its founding, the company was mainly producing doburoku (fermented sake without filtering), and it is said that full-scale sake production began in the late Edo period(1603 – 1868).
The brewing water is from the subsoil of Mt.Moriyama, the symbol of the town.
The Fukurokuju Shuzo also offers tours of the brewery. The brick walls of the brewery are very distinctive.
The brewery also has a cafe, HIKOBE, where visitors can enjoy sake, brewing water coffee, and original sakekasu drinks(Sakekasu is the leftover bits from the sake making process.) according to the season.
TEL: 018-852-4130
Website : http://www.fukurokuju.jp/
Tour : http://www.fukurokuju.jp/brewery/
Cafe Hikobe : https://hikobe.fukurokuju.jp/
Katagami City
Here are sake breweries in Katagami City.
Kodama Zyozo (小玉醸造株式会社)
Established in 1879.Kodama Brewery started out as a brewer of fermented foods, miso and soy sauce. It began as a sake brewery in 1913.
The company named its sake after "Taiheizan", the most popular mountain in the region.
Kodama Brewery also offers tours of the brewery, but as of September 1, 2021, the website says that due to measures against the new coronavirus the brewery tour is cancelled.
TEL 018-877-2100
Website : https://www.kodamajozo.co.jp/en/
Tour : https://www.kodamajozo.co.jp/en/visit-us/
Akita City
Here are sake breweries in Akita city.
Akita Shuzo (秋田酒造株式会社)
Founded in 1908. The town of Shinya, Akita City, where the brewery is located, flourished as a brewing town due to the abundance of spring water.
The brewery uses the medium-hard water of Shinya for its brewing water.
TEL.018-828-1311
URL : https://www.akitabare.jp/
Aramasa Shuzo (新政酒造株式会社)
Established in 1852. Aramasa Shuzo was founded in 1852, and has contributed greatly to the brewing of sake in the snowy Tohoku region by creating "Sake yeast kyokai No.6", which is resistant to cold weather.
In the history of sake, the sake industry has always been developed in the Kansai region (Kyoto, Nada in Hyogo, etc.). However, since the birth of low-temperature resistant yeast at Aramasa Shuzo in 1930, it has become possible to produce high quality sake even in cold regions with deep snow.
In this way, sake breweries in snowy regions came to be famous.
TEL: 018-823-6407
URL : http://www.aramasa.jp/
Akita Zyozo (秋田醸造株式会社)
Founded in 1919. Uses water from the foot of Mt. Taihei in Akita City for brewing.
TEL : 018-832-2818
URL : https://www.nipponnosake.com/kura/yukinobijin/
Naba Shoten (株式会社那波商店)
Established in 1815.
The company uses groundwater from the Takashimizu hills for its brewing water.
Naba Shoten is also involved in industry-academia collaboration, and is cooperating with Akita Prefectural University to develop new sake.
They have been working with Akita Prefectural University to help develop a new sake, with students studying brewing at the university taking part in everything from growing and harvesting sake rice to brewing sake.
Since FY2018, Nanami Shoten has been providing the students with guidance on sake brewing and distribution and sales.
TEL: 018-845-1260
URL : http://jizakemonogatari.net/
Akita Shurui Seizoh Co.,Ltd. (秋田酒類製造株式会社)
Takashimizu was founded in 1944 when 12 sake brewing families merged to form Akita Shurui Seizoh Co.,Ltd.
The brewery has three warehouses, storage facilities, a bottling plant, and a warehouse for the entire process from brewing to shipping.
Tours of the warehouses are available, but as of September 1, 2021, they have been cancelled.
TEL: 018-864-7331
URL : https://www.takashimizu.com/
Tour : https://www.takashimizu.co.jp/kodawari/kura
Yurihonzyo city
Here are sake breweries in Yurihonzyo city.
Akita Homare Shuzo (秋田誉酒造株式会社)
Established in 1944. The company brews sake using underground water from Mt.Chokai.
The name of the brewery's representative sake is Akita Homare(秋田誉), which was named in the hope that it would grow into a brand that would become the honor(誉) of Akita(秋田).
TEL: 0184-22-5231
URL : http://www.osake.or.jp/kuramoto/13akitahomare.html
Saiya Sake Brewery Co. (株式会社齋彌酒造店)
Established in 1902. The brewery's 11 warehouses and facilities, which are still in their original state, are registered as Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan.
The brewery offers tours of the brewery, but as of September 1, 2021, the website says the tours have been canceled.
Based on the concept that "sake is brewed by microorganisms, not people," Saiya Sake Brewery does not use chemicals to sterilize the brewery, but rather carefully cleans the brewery on a daily basis to maintain a good balance of microorganisms in the brewery. For this reason, they are the first sake brewery in Japan to be certified as organic.
Saiya Sake Brewery also runs a cafe called Hakkokoji Taya.
TEL.0184-22-0536
Website : http://www.yukinobousha.jp/index.html
Tour : http://www.yukinobousha.jp/aboutus/visit.html
Cafe : https://www.hakkokoji-taya.jp/
Tenju Shuzo (天寿酒造株式会社)
Established in 1830. The brewery uses subterranean water from the melting snow of Mt. Chokai as its brewing water.
The brewery also uses flower yeast collected from marigolds, begonias, nadeshiko, and abelia.
TEL: 0184-55-3165
URL: https://tenju.co.jp/pages/en
Sato Shuzo (株式会社佐藤酒造店)
Established in 1907.
They also offer tours of the brewery, but visitors need to contact them in advance by phone or email for a tour.
TEL.0184-55-3010
URL : http://dewanofuji.co.jp/
Tour : http://dewanofuji.co.jp/tour/
Nikaho city
Here are sake breweries in Nikaho city.
Hiraizumi Honpo (株式会社飛良泉本舗)
A sake brewery with a long history, founded in 1487. It is the oldest sake brewery in Tohoku and the third oldest in Japan.
They are particular about making their sake brew using the "Yamahai brewing" method.
TEL.0184-35-2031
URL : https://www.hiraizumi.co.jp/
