“Koshi no Kanchubai” & “Ogosebairin” In-store tasting event @ Ikebukuro

You can taste Koshi no Kanchubai, Niigata Meijo from Niigata prefecture, and Ogosebairin, Sato shuzo from Saitama prefecture.

Koshi no Kanchubai (Niigata Meijo)

Niigata Meijo is located in Ojiya in the central region of Niigata Prefecture 150 miles north of Tokyo. A fertile valley for rice farming surrounded by snow-covered mountains in winter, the environment is ideal for sake production. The company’s brewery has produced sake and distributed other wholesale beverages for 70 years.

Niigata Meijo sake products have received major awards including the best sake award at the Kanto Regional Sake Appraisal and 13 consecutive gold medal awards at the National New Sake Appraisal. Its sake has a characteristic gorgeous-smooth-clean flavor profile with clear finish, and one of the products in a small cup package (180ml) received the Grand Prix award of Japan’s Cup sake in 2008.

Niigata Meijo Home page

Ogosebairin (Sato shuzo)

Sato shuzo was founded in 1844 in Ogose. Ogose (Ogose-machi) is a town located in Saitama Prefecture. The town has an estimated population of over 10,000 people. It is located near Chichibu mountain and surrounded by great nature. There is “Ogose Bairin”, which is one of the 3 Kanto best plum forest near the brewery. Behind the brewery site, there is the clear stream from the source of Kuroyama Santaki and it is used for brewing sake. Their motto is brewing “fullness and aftertaste is light” sake by hand crafted with traditional way.

In sake brewing, a Toji (master brewer) is the chief executive of production. Sato shuzo’s Toji is the first female toji in Saitama.

Sato shuzo Home page

DATE AND TIME

2018/5/10 (Thu) – 16 (Wed) 10:00~20:00

You cannot go? Check out ichibansake Event Calendar

LOCATION

Ikebukuro Tobu Department Store B1F

1 Chome-1-25 Nishiikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo 171-0021

Google map

Access

Directly connected to “Ikebukuro station”

Web site

For more information visit, 東武百貨店 池袋店 日本酒催事スケジュール

“Rumiko no Sake” & “Izumibashi” In-store tasting event @ Ikebukuro


You can taste Rumiko no Sake, Moriki shuzojo from Mie prefecture, and Izumibashi , Izumibashi sake brewery from Kanagawa prefecture.

Rumiko no Sake (Moriki shuzojo)

Known since ancient times as the land of the ninja, Iga is also the town that is home to Moriki Shuzojo in the prefecture of Mie. Located in central Japan, Mie faces the Pacific and lies between the cities of Nagoya, Osaka and Kyoto.

Nearly all work in the Moriki Shuzo is done by hand, the same way their sake has been made for centuries. Rumiko’s motto is “a lot of hard work in the making of the best quality sake she can, means being honest to her customers”. It is truly a remarkable brewery with a wood fired boiler being used to steam the rice, wooden vats full of steamed rice are carried on the Moriki’s and their workers shoulders, including up wooden planks to get the rice into the fermentation tanks. About 25% of their sake production is from their own organically farmed rice, and the rest is sourced from areas that specialise in the particular rice variety that will produce the best result for the style of sake they wish to brew. The Moriki’s still use Yeast Strain #6 in their sake which is very unusual nowadays, along with allowing wild yeast to start ferment in many of their sake.

Moriki Brewery is not a large-scale brewery. “Rumiko no Sake” was born in 1992. The end of the twentieth century was the period of depression in Japanese sake and all small-scale breweries had to take up their cross. “Natsuko no Sake” is a Japanese manga that dealt with the social problem that did on the stage of sake brewing. She happened to read “Natsuko no Sake” and surprised at the accidental coincidence. Natsuko, the main role, was set at the situation very similar to Rumiko. It became a great encouragement which made them survive through.

Moriki shuzojo Home page


Izumibashi (Izumibashi sake brewery)

Izumibashi sake brewery is in Ebina city in Kanagawa prefecture. It was founded in 1857. Kanagawa is adjacent to Tokyo, and gets a lot of tourist traffic owning to its landmarks – Yokohama and Hakone.
Surrounding the brewery are rice fields. Many of those fields are cultivated by Izumibashi itself. In 1996, the brewery began growing its own rice. Now, they cultivate over 40 hectares of rice fields – a mixture of own and rented land.

Izumibashi sake brewery puts an emphasis on natural farming methods. While not going 100% organic, Izumibashi grows rice with minimal use of agrochemicals. Using natural methods to increase vitality and strength of plants, it grows rice that is naturally pest-resistant. Izumibashi has been able to reduce the use of agrichemicals by 96-100% of the existing prefecture standard.

The brewery also works with the local Sake Rice Association to re-cultivate unused land and promote natural farming methods. As a result, all farmers they work with have reduced the use of agrichemicals to 60% of allowable level.

The red dragonfly, the symbol of Izumibashi, likes rice fields. Izumibashi believes that it has seen the increase in dragonfly numbers – a result of using less chemicals. A nice sort of symmetry in that, don’t you think?

Izumibashi sake brewers also mill the rice they use in their sake. While a few brewers do that, the majority outsource this task. Izumibashi’s staff assess the quality of rice that comes to the brewery, which can differ by strain, origin and even the weather of each summer, and polish the rice according to their findings. From growing to polishing, rice gets a lot of attention at Izumibashi!

Izumibashi only brews junmai sake, which means the brewers do not add any distilled alcohol to sake at any stage. While addition of a small amount of alcohol at the end of the brewing process is a valid technical step in sake brewing (it helps draw out alcohol-soluble flavours), a small number of breweries believe that it can be avoided with enough effort and skill.

Izumibashi sake brewery Home page

DATE AND TIME

2018/5/3 (Thu) -9 (Wed) 10:00~20:00

You cannot go? Check out ichibansake Event Calendar

LOCATION

Ikebukuro Tobu Department Store B1F

1 Chome-1-25 Nishiikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo 171-0021

Google map

Access

Directly connected to “Ikebukuro station”

Web site

For more information visit, 東武百貨店 池袋店 日本酒催事スケジュール

Akita sake tasting in Mitaka


You can taste 12 kinds of Akita sake.

Including Spot sale, Lottery event and appetizer.

Advance ticket is sell at Harmonica Yokocho Mitaka, MOSKOW and Harmonica Yokocho Kichijoji Ahiru Beer Hall.

MOSKOW tabelog link

Kichijoji Ahiru Beer Hall tabelog link

Line up Brand link

太平山 Taiheizan (Kodama jozo)

刈穂 Kariho (Akita seishu)

まんさくの花 Mansaku no Hana (Hinomaru jozo)

雪の茅舎 Yuki No Bousha (Saiya shuzo)


DATE AND TIME

2018/5/25 (Fri)
19:00~21:00

-You cannot go? Check out ichibansake Event Calendar

LOCATION

Harmonica Yokocho Mitaka

1-5-8 Nakacho Musashino Tokyo

Google map

Access

JR Mitaka station
2 min walk from Mitaka station north exit

Ticket

Advance ticket ¥3,000 (Sell at MOSKOW and Kichijoji Ahiru)

MOSKOW, located in Hamonica Yokocho Mitaka

Kichijoji Ahiru Beer Hall, located in Hamonika Yokocho Kichijoji

Day ticket ¥3,200

Web site

For more information visit, 秋田の酒きき酒会「12種類のお酒」太平山・刈穂・まんさくの花・雪の茅舎