Discover Sake

Like Saijō, the best way to taste a range of Takayama sake is to go there and walk around the breweries!?? ???? You could do them all in one long day (careful of being able to make your way back to the station afterwards...) or stay overnight in Takayama or nearby Gero hot springs.?? ???? The Takayama breweries have open days in January and February, which used to involve each one opening for a week or two, but in 2020 all of them were open at the same time for the Hida Takayama Nonbei Festival that ran from Sunday 26 January to Saturday 29 February. ??

With only seven breweries to choose from, it's hard to single any out as particularly famous, but they all have their own appeal.?? ???? The Harada brewery uses flower yeast to produce some wine-like sake, and also sells sweets and soft-serve ice cream made from their sake or its lees. The Niki brewery's main label is Tama-no-i (玉ノ井), "the jewel well", named for the purity of their well water. They're one of the oldest breweries in Takayama and sell only ginjō and daiginjō sake.?? ???? By contrast, Hirata is the youngest brewery - but it's still 120 years old. Their aged sake, Suiou, is amazing (IWC koshu trophy winner). ??? Funasaka has a restaurant and bar as well as a great selection of local gifts.?? ???? The Hirase brewery makes only sake that meets the legal "premium" classifications, and Kawashiri produce extremely limited quantities and focus on ageing their sake. ??? And the Oita brewery moved their production out into the suburbs in 1990, where they continue to make their popular dry sake.??

Like Saijō, Takayama may not impress with sheer number of breweries but the fact that they're all in the town centre makes it very easy to visit several - even all - in a fast-paced day or a more relaxed two days.?? ???? Seven breweries are within easy walking distance of each other in the attractive old streets, recognisable by the cedar balls or sugidama hanging outside.?? ???? The Harada and Funasaka breweries are opposite each other on Kami Sanno-machi (上三之町, "upper 3rd"), while the Oita, Hirata, Niki and Kawashiri breweries are within two streets of each other on the other end of Kami Sanno-machi and Kami Nino-machi (上二之町, "upper 2nd"). Hirase is one street over on Kami Ichino-machi (上一之町, "upper 1st").??

Takayama was singled out by the Japanese government in 1996 as a model city for tourism. As a result, it is now very easy to visit, with plenty of information and English speakers at the tourist information office beside the station.?? ???? The JR station is a short walk from the town's old streets, lined with traditional buildings, where you'll find local specialties such as Hida beef or wild mountain vegetables.?? ???? There are also plenty of museums with folk crafts - wood, lacquer, pottery - and the floats used in Takayama's famous festivals.??

There are records of commercial scale sake brewing in Takayama as far back as the 17th century, and at its height the area had 60 breweries.?? ???? Despite - or maybe because of - its remote location, the area was a castle town. It was also famous for its wood and woodworking artisans, and was put under the direct control of the Shogunate during the Edo period. This gave it an unusual degree of prosperity and fame, and with that came a larger and wealthier population with the means to buy and appetite to consume sake.?? ???? The town is also famous for festivals, which require offerings of sake for the gods. Local businessmen funded the breweries with the aim of making better sake, which they hoped would then attract divine blessings.?

So what makes this beautiful mountain town so good for sake??? ???? One factor is climate. The area has warm days and cold nights, and this daily temperature difference promotes the growth of high-quality rice. Winters are also spectacularly cold, with heavy snowfall, which brings the low temperatures ideal for brewing sake.?? ???? Have you guessed the next one yet? Yes, it's water again. The area has abundant water filtered through the northern Japan Alps mountain range.?? ???? There is also a local sake-specific rice widely used in brewing - Hida Homare. It's said to bring an ideal balance of flavours, namely sweetness, spice, acidity, bitterness and astringency, to the finished sake.??

On to our next sake centre, or sake-dokoro, this time further north - it's Takayama!?? ???? Nestled in the mountains that span the north of Gifu Prefecture, Takayama is a compact town with lots to see, including a collection of old farmhouses (you read that right, entire farmhouses were disassembled, moved to Takayama and reassembled) and beautiful narrow streets lined with traditional houses. ?? ???? As well as being very photogenic, the town is an easy day trip by JR express train from Nagoya (covered by the JR pass) or you can make it a longer trip and take in the nearby onsen (hot spring) town of Gero. ??

Like Nada, it's very easy to just wander around Saijō's Sake Street and sample at each brewery!?? ???? Otherwise, there are places to sample sake without leaving Hiroshima city - such as the EN sake bar/cafe/hostel in Naka ward, or Ofuku in the Nagaregawa entertainment district where you can try on a kimono as you sample local sake.?? ???? If you have time, venture a little further out from Hiroshima City to Kure, an old port town which has some more great breweries including Enoki (makers of kijoshu and aged kijoshu) and Miyake Honten (makers of Senpuku). Or to Akitsu, home of Imada Shuzo (makers of Fukucho and Seafood).?

Kamoizumi, on Saijō's main "Sake Street", is a relatively new brewery but nonetheless famous for making junmai sake (with no added alcohol) in the post-war period, when many breweries were still adding large amounts of high-strength alcohol. (Not allowed today under the tokutei meisho classification system for premium sake.) The style was not well received at first, but things changed in the early 1970s when they started polishing to 60% and producing ginjō style sake.?? ???? Kamotsuru is one of the largest breweries in the area, the first to own a powered rice mill, and their sake was offered to former US president Barack Obama when he visited Japan in 2014.?? ???? Fukubijin was instrumental in developing technical excellence in the area through setting up a brewing school that allowed its competitors to study and improve their skills.?? ???? And Hakubotan was loved by famous Japanese novelist Soseki Natsume.??

While it doesn't have as many breweries as Nada or Fushimi, Saijō definitely makes up for it in sheer density. The breweries in the main sake street are just a few minutes walk from each other.?? ???? The Saijōtsuru, Hakubotan, Kamotsuru, Kirei, Fukubijin and Kamoizumi breweries are all on a few parallel streets a few minutes walk south-east of JR Saijō station, with Sanyotsuru a little to the south-west. Kanemitsu is around 15 km south, accessible by bus.??