Introduction to Sake Breweries

Here is information on the breweries served at Kokshubar

Explore the history of sake in more depth!

YAMATO Brewery

Yamato Sake Brewery was founded in 1975 on the site of the Saga Prefectural Sake Brewing Experiment Station, which has a long history of brewing sake. With a total annual production of 2,200 kiloliters, the brewery boasts the largest production in Saga Prefecture, and is experimenting with new sake and new bottles. At the same time, the brewery is committed to handcrafting sake that meets the needs of a wide range of consumers by mastering the traditional techniques that each brewery has nurtured.

KIYAMA SHOTEN

The name “Kihotsuru” comes from the graceful figure of a crane soaring gracefully over the bosom of Mt. The brewery was founded in the early Meiji era (1868) by several local landowners who began brewing sake together, and from the first generation, Hatsuzo Komori, to the present generation, sake brewing has been carried out with the sole intention of providing the local people with delicious sake. The company's motto is “making sake with local characteristics” and it has always placed the utmost priority on quality.

SAGA Brewery

As of November 1, 2022, the company name of “Mado no Ume Sake Brewing Company” has changed to “SAGA Brewing Company”.
Since our establishment in 1688, we have been the oldest sake brewery in Saga Prefecture and one of the representative brands in Kyushu.
We believe that the fact that we have been able to reach the present day as the oldest sake brewery in Saga Prefecture and as a representative brand in Kyushu is the result of the trust that has been placed in us by our customers throughout our history.

AMABUKI Brewery

Amabuki Sake Brewery is a traditional sake brewery that has been in business for 300 years.
The name “Amabuki” comes from Mt. Amabuki, located northeast of the brewery. Amabuki, which has a 300-year history since its establishment in the Genroku era (1688-1704), is made from sake rice harvested in the richly harvested Saga Plain and mellow subterranean water from the Sefuri Mountains. Amabuki's sake, nurtured by flower yeast, is quietly matured in an underground cellar, where the temperature remains the same throughout the four seasons, and gains a natural richness and flavor.

TENZAN Brewery

The Tenzan brewery is filled with the passion of the skilled Hizen toji (master brewer) and young brewers, and is steeped in a tradition of putting quality first. When the limpid water from Kyushu's famous “Tenzan” peak meets the finely polished sake rice, the famous sake “Tenzan” is born. We at Tenzan Brewery are grateful for the history, culture, and nature of our hometown, and will continue to make delicious sake that intoxicates people's hearts and enriches their lives as we move toward the 22nd century.

AZUMATSURU Brewery

It is the only sake brewery in Taku City and was founded in 1830. The brewery's policy is to stick to genuine sake brewing and not to use machines even in this age of convenience. Rice is steamed using a wooden strainer, koji is made using box koji, and the sake is squeezed into sake bags. The sake brewed by hand in the old-fashioned way has a rich and mellow taste that is well-liked by the local people.

GOCHODA Brewery

Gochoda Shuzo's “Azumaichi” sake hails from the rice-producing region of Saga.
Local sake is loved by the locals. Above all, we have striven to brew sake that the people of Saga can be proud of. We believe that this is the first step in making sake that is loved throughout the country.
In 1988, Gochoda Shuzo set its sights on becoming a “ginjo brewery”. In the same year, it began planting Yamadanishiki, which is considered to be the finest of sake rice, and in 1990, its daiginjo sake made from home-grown Yamadanishiki won a gold medal at the National New Sake Appraisal Competition.

YANO Brewery

Since its establishment in 1796, the brewery has continued to produce sake in the same location for over 200 years.
Although it is a small brewery with a production and sales volume of around 600 koku, about ten years ago it re-examined its production methods and adopted a quality-focused approach, with the president himself going into the brewery and working hard with the chief brewer to make sake. As a result, the quality of the sake has improved dramatically, and it has continued to win prizes at sake tasting competitions and contests all over the country. In addition, customer evaluations have also improved.

KOIMARI Brewery

While upholding its history and traditions,
Koimari Shuzo is pursuing the ideal form of sake that matches the times.
The traditional Imari ware, the history and romance of Koimari.
Koimari sake is a refined sake that has been brewed by combining the techniques that have been cultivated over the years, while protecting the climate and the people's hospitality that have been blessed since ancient times, and the techniques that have been passed down from generation to generation.

BABA Brewery

For over 220 years since our founding, we have been making sake exclusively using the clear waters of the Nakagawa River. Our sake “Nogomi” is made using locally grown rice. The most important ingredients in sake brewing are the rice and water.
We use rice that has been grown with as little pesticide as possible, not only for quality sake, but also for the safety and peace of mind of our customers.
In addition, we use groundwater from the Taradake mountain range for our brewing water.

SACHIHIME Brewery

The sake “Sachihime”, which the owner of the brewery made with the wish that his only daughter would be happy, is as its name suggests, a gentle and mellow drink. It is also the sake brewer for Yutokuinari Shrine, one of the three most important Inari shrines in Japan.

MITSUTAKE Brewery

With the corporate philosophy of “sake brewing is people development” and the catchphrase of “innovation from tradition”, we accurately grasp the trends of the times, while continuing to make unceasing efforts to improve the quality of each product, while also protecting the traditions of sake brewing from long ago.
We aim to make sake that enriches people's lives and brings happiness to many people.
Our goal is to become a sake brewery that our customers, those involved in sales, and the local community can be proud of.

SETO Brewery

In 1789, the first generation of the Seto family, Tajibei, established the brewery under the brand name “Taira-Masamune”. In 1920, the 19th Prime Minister of Japan, Takashi Hara, praised the sake as “worthy of the king of the Azuma country, or the king of the Orient”, and the brewery was incorporated and renamed “Azumacho”. Since then, we have continued to brew sake that lives up to the name. It is also well known that in 1945, General Douglas MacArthur recommended Azuma-cho as a product for GHQ. The home of Azuma-cho is the quiet rural town of Shioda, located in the upper reaches of the Shioda River, which flows into the Ariake Sea in the west of the Saga Plain. It is a sake that is made with an emphasis on traditional production methods and honest brewing.

IDE Brewery

Ide Shuzo is located in Ureshino-machi, a town famous for its tea and hot springs, in the southwestern part of Saga Prefecture in northern Kyushu. The brewery is located in the center of the hot spring resort and retains the appearance it had when it was first established. Surrounded by mountains, the basin is very cold in winter, making it ideal for sake brewing, and it is also blessed with fertile land and an abundance of water. Using locally produced rice, the famous sake “Toranoko” is brewed by the Yanagawa chief brewer, who has continued the tradition of brewing sake for two generations. Since its founding, the brewery has continued to brew sake without a break for about 150 years.

MUNEMASA Brewery

Since its establishment in 1985, Munemasa Shuzo has been delivering the heart and flavor of its hometown to people everywhere through the production and sale of its main products, the authentic shochu “Nonnoko” and the sake “Munemasa”.

In order to further pursue the creation of happiness through sake and the production of authentic sake with a focus on hand-crafted production, and to convey this feeling to as many people as possible, in March 2002, the “Arita Kura” brewery was built in Arita Porcelain Park, the home of Arita, a pottery village with a 400-year history village of Arita, which has a 400-year history of pottery, and at the same time expanded the facilities as a tourist brewery so that more people could experience the sake brewing of Munemasa Shuzo.

NARUTAKI Brewery

Narutaki Shuzo was established in 1974 through a merger of three companies: Taiko Shuzo, which had been making sake since 1705, and two sake breweries in Kashima City and Higashimatsuura-gun Hamatama-machi. The “Taiko” sake from Narutaki Shuzo has many passionate local fans who would never consider Nada sake, and the “Taiko-kai” group of regular drinkers, which has been around for over 50 years, currently has around 200 members and is a major support for the brewery.

KOMATSU Brewery

In 1995, the eldest son, Daisuke Komatsu (the current president), who was working as a stockbroker in Tokyo, returned home and took over the family business. At first, he went out on sales calls with sake that was being manufactured by another company, but he lacked confidence in the sake he was selling, and he decided, “I can't sell any more unless it's sake from my own brewery. I'll make sake again.” He joined the National Tax Agency's Brewing Research Institute in Hiroshima and began studying sake brewing from scratch. After leaving the institute, he joined a sake brewery in Shimane Prefecture as a brewer to make up for his lack of experience, and learned all the processes involved in sake brewing. Finally, in 1998, the president himself took on the role of chief brewer and managed to revive the brewery, which had been closed for eight years.

MATSUURAICHI Brewery

Imari is located in the western part of Saga Prefecture and has long prospered as a port for exporting ceramics. Surrounded by mountains on three sides, Okawachiyama is a village of secret kilns reminiscent of Chinese landscape paintings.
Imari Bay, which is connected to Europe via the Maritime Silk Road, is also home to the horseshoe crab, which is known as a living fossil.
The mountains are full of fruit, including pears and grapes. It is in this wonderful natural environment that Matsuura Ichi was born.