Introduction to Hiroshima's sake

Sake breweries are scattered throughout Hiroshima, including Saijo, which is said to be one of the three major breweries in Japan. There are regions famous not only for sake, but also for original wines and beers. We hope you will find the one drink made for you !

The taste of sake changes depending on the water : hard water or soft water. In general, it is said that hard water is the best to give sake  a dry taste. and soft water to give a sweet taste. Many sake from Hiroshima are classified as the latter.

Depending on the brand and variety, the taste is different, and the individuality of each brewery comes out. There are several types of sake in one store, and owners recommends several brands according to taste preferences.

Saijo, a famous area for producing sake in Hiroshima, with its 400-year history white-wall breweries, and its aroma of sake drifting during the brewing period.

Every fall, a sake festival is held around Saijo Station. In addition to tasting local sake from all over the country, you can also taste local dishes. It is a really popular festival.

Takehara, which faces the Seto Inland Sea, has flourished since ancient times through the salt industry and sake brewing industry, and is still called “Aki's Little Kyoto” because of its traditional townscape. Currently, three traditional and unique breweries continue brewing sake.

Taketsuru Sake Brewery originally operated the salt industry as “Ozasaya”, and then started the sake brewing business in 1733.

This Taketsuru Sake Brewery has a motto of sake brewing that goes back to the root of sake brewing and makes use of the blessings of nature. Taketsuru Shuzo's sake, which has a solid acidity and taste, goes well with food, so you can enjoy it without getting tired of drinking.

In 1863, at the end of the Edo period, the founder, Zenshichi, recognized the land of Takehara blessed with good quality brewing water as a land suitable for sake brewing and started the sake brewing industry. Takehara is a land blessed with clean water that still uses underground water as tap water, and at the same time, a rich food culture has been built by obtaining abundant seafood.

It is a junmai brewery for more continues to brew sake for more than one hundred and fifty years. Junmaishu “Ryusei” is a Junmai liquor.

It is a sake brewery with its famous product beeing the sake “Seikyo” and the Ginjo Sake “Maboroshi” series.

We mainly use rice suitable for sake brewing such as Yamada Nishiki, Hattannishiki, and Omachi as raw materials, and local sake rice, and we are working hard to make sake that is called “good” no matter who drinks it. In addition, although it is a source of refined sake, they also brew rice shochu and wine.

The manufacturer, Yaoyakushin Shuzo Co., Ltd. was founded in 1827. The brewery has been located on the banks of Nishikigawa since its founding, and it was crowded as a pier. “Gangi” refers to a pier with a staircase at the pier. In the past, rice, which is the raw material for sake, was landed from “Gangi” by a ship coming down from the upper reaches of Nishikigawa, and has continued to produce “life” called sake. In order to return to the origins of sake brewing and start a new tradition from here, it was named “Gangi” in Heisei 12 (2000). We gradually expanded our lineup while complying with the fact that it is pure rice and that it is not filtered using activated carbon, and it has become recognized as a brand.

The manufacturer, Sakai Shuzo Co., Ltd., opened a storehouse in Nakatsu-cho, Iwakuni City, which was blessed with soft underground water from the clear stream Nishikawa River in 1871. The name of the five bridges comes from the five warped bridges “Kintaikyo Bridge” over Nishikigawa. It was named with the desire to pray for the grace of Kintaikyo Bridge and to the bridge of the heart. Itsutsubashi is characterized by soft and fragrant liquor qualities peculiar to soft water preparation. It is no exaggeration to say that water, which is described as super soft water, is the blessing of Nishikigawa. It was in the spring of Showa 22 (1947) that the name of Gotsubashi spread nationwide. Hard water preparation was popular at that time. At that time, winning the first place in the National New Sake Review Association by brewing soft water was about to attract the attention of those involved. Since then, there have been many fans throughout the country, not to mention Yamaguchi prefecture as a representative sake of Yamaguchi prefecture due to the sharpened sense of Mr. Tsuji, tireless efforts, and technical sharpening.

The manufacturer, Murashige Shuzo Co., Ltd. was founded in Misho, Iwakuni City in 1959, following the tradition of Morinoi Shuzo Co., Ltd., which was founded in the early Meiji period. Kuromatsu symbolizes the joy that is always adorned at celebrations such as ceremonies and weddings, so that the first brewery brings more happiness to everyone by drinking our sake, we put a gold crown on top and named it Kinkan Kuromatsu. The underground water of the clear stream Nishikigawa (super soft water: Ganryu well) and well water (hard water: Kannon well) that springs from the limestone strata near the warehouse are used properly according to the sake quality required. We are brewing a wide range of sake by using wells with different water quality in sake breweries. In addition, the Ganryu well can be drilled freely, and local people, of course, are so pleased that they come to draw it from afar.

Horie Sakaba in Nishiki-cho, Iwakuni City, is a sake brewery with a history of over 250 years, located in a small town that dates back to the clear stream Nishikigawa where the Kintai Bridge is built, founded in the middle of the Edo period (1764). In this blessed environment of Yamashisuimei, we create a drop of the essence while interweaving the latest technology into the techniques of the family, like conveying Japanese culture and tradition to the present, and conveying the charm of this sake that has been passed down through the ages and generations It's continuing.

In January 1948, sake brewing began in Shuto-cho, Iwakuni City by Asahi Shuzo Co., Ltd. The meaning of the word “Dassai” refers to spreading and scattering a lot of reference materials when making poems and sentences, from the place where it looks like a festival is held by arranging fish caught by Dassai on the shore. With the catchphrase “Sake brewing is a dream, let's pioneer a new era of sake”, we named “Dassai” in the name of the sake in order to create a better sake from transformation and innovation without settling for the word tradition or handmade. It is a commitment that only “Yamada Nishiki,” which is said to be the king of sake brewing rice, is used as the raw material for sake brewing. We continued to make “sake to taste, not to get drunk, to sell,” and now it has become known all over the world and has become not only representative of Yamaguchi prefecture, but also representative of Japan. In addition, it is considered to be a sake that is hard to get even in the local Iwakuni city, and it is also popular as shochu.

“Navy's Beer” uses only carefully selected German malt, hops, and yeasts as raw materials, and is a beer made with great care with “spring water from Haigamine”. Since brewer's yeast is not removed, the shelf life is as short as 60 days for refrigerated products, but please try “natural beer that does not remove yeast” by all means. You can buy “Navy-san no Bakushu” at airport shops and convenience stores.

The Sera Plateau has a large temperature difference between day and night, and it is said that the climate is suitable for growing fruit trees. Sera wine made at Sera Winery is made with 100% grapes from Sera-cho.