Daishichi Sake Brewery

24/04/2024

Daishichi was founded in 1752 by Saburouemon Ohta, the son of a former samurai, in the castle town of Nihonmatsu in northeastern Japan. Renowned for quality spring water from Mt Adatara and blessed with a favorable climate for sake production, Nihonmatsu was an ideal place to establish a sake brewery.

Some 270 years later, Daishichi continues to produce quality sake under the baton of the tenth-generation owner/president, Hideharu Ohta, at the location of its founding. Daishichi uses not only the water sourced from the same underground vein but also the same natural and artisanal method called kimoto, which it has capitalized on since its founding.

At Daishichi, we spare no effort to learn from and maintain time-honored wisdom, techniques, and traditions while we also invest in innovations to bring sake to new heights.

Enjoy Daishichi sake, the fruit of innovations and mastery passed on for generations by top artisans, with the choice of your favorite meal. Our sake, hand-made by Master Brewer Takanobu Sato, is designed to pair well with a diverse variety of international cuisines, as well as Japanese dishes.

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15/04/2024

Admiring cherry blossoms over sips of sake and food has been a popular tradition in Japan since the 18th century, when Daishichi started producing sake and which follows the era of the TV series “The Sh**un".

Old paintings, including a famous piece by legendary "ukiyoe" artist Hiroshige Utagawa, portray women and men in kimono picnicking under cherry blossoms and sharing sake and food.

Sake, nicknamed "a blessing from the heaven" at the time, was also ubiquitous at other seasonal and major life celebrations such as summertime fireworks, listening to the sounds of insects in autumn evenings, and weddings.

Enjoy great moments to the fullest. Kanpai!

(You can find more on how people in Japan enjoyed sake in the 18th-19th centuries when the country was closed to much of the rest of the world, as well as the old paintings portraying such scenes, here: https://kokushu-museum.com/en/ukiyoe/ukiyoe-theme1/)

11/04/2024

Enjoy viewing spring blossoms like the Japanese do! 🥂

09/04/2024

Happy spring! 🌸
Cheers to nature’s beautiful blessings 🥂

26/03/2024

We have just completed our 272nd sake brewing season, which turns out to be the best in a decade.

We thank the god of sake, as well as the encouraging support of Daishichi fans around the world, for this success and look forward to sharing with you the sake made in brewing year 2023 after maturation for a year or more in our temperature-controlled cellar.

30/01/2024

Big thanks to Travel + Leisure for recommending Daishichi for a sake brewery visit!

If you are interested in visiting us, please check out the website below for details and contact us by email for reservation.

We look forward to hearing from you, showing where we make sake, and offering a tasting of our precious sakes.

https://www.daishichi.com/en/information/201910080000

Since the days of the samurai, Fukushima has been known as Japan’s sake kingdom. Here are the centuries-old breweries to visit.

01/12/2023

Can you believe it’s already December??

This holiday season, why don’t you sit back, relax, and give Daishichi sake a chance to help create an unforgettable moment for you and your loved ones?

Enjoy a livened-up conversation as Minowamon, our popular artisanal sake made of 50%-polished high-grade Yamadanishiki rice, works its magic to transform your everyday meal consisting of meat, seafood, and/or vegetables into a new, exciting gastronomic experience.

Kanpai! 🥂

Below are some of the places you may be able to find Minowamon:

Tippsy
True Sake
SakeSocial.com
Sake Collective
Takasan.co
Workshop ISSE
DC Sake cō
Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel
銀座三越 Ginza Mitsukoshi
伊勢丹新宿店

08/10/2023

It's happening now until 15 October at Hotel de Crillon, one of the most prestigious luxury hotels in Paris!

To celebrate World Sake Day (October 1st in Japan), the Hôtel de Crillon will honor this symbolic and traditional rice alcohol from October 1st to 15th, 2023.

01/10/2023

Happy World Sake Day!

Daishichi will start its 271st year of sake-making this month.

We are looking forward to brewing more sake that help create a special moment for you and your loved ones.

26/08/2023

Have you seen Uniqlo’s new UT Graphic T-shirt inspired by the label design of Daishichi junmai daiginjo sake Minowamon?

This limited edition of the Uniqlo T-shirt, currently available only in Japan, is coming to online and physical stores worldwide in September.

In case you are wondering what grape leaves have to do with a sake brand, they are actually ivy leaves.

Ivy leaves symbolize the long tradition of sake-making, as sake breweries in the pre-industrial age covered their buildings with ivy leaves to keep the indoor production areas cool in summer and warm in winter.

At Daishichi, we keep traditions alive in the areas where they help us make better sake in sustainable manners. We also utilize modern technology to innovate with an aim at enabling our customers around the world to enjoy our sakes in their best forms possible.

The Uniqlo T-shirt, that blends traditional and modern designs, symbolizes the tradition-meets-modernity brand essence of Daishichi.

Don’t miss the opportunity to check it out when it comes to your local stores. Kanpai!

02/07/2023

Time will tell. At Daishichi, we let our sake grow for at least a year to as long as decades to reveal itself. It’s possible and suitable to mature Daishichi sake because it’s made by the ultra-natural traditional method called kimoto, that was developed well before the industrial revolution, for propagating yeast to achieve robust and thorough fermentation.

Today, only several percent of sake made in Japan is made by this laborious and time-consuming method. You may have heard that sake is best consumed fresh. This is because most sake today is made by a modern, abbreviated yeast propagation method called sokujomoto, which is generally better fresh. Daishichi is a rare brewery which makes all its sake by the intricate ancient method.

Shichiuemon Ohta, the grandfather of Daishichi’s current and 10th-generation owner/president Hideharu Ohta, made the decision against industry-wide trends to stick to the kimoto method that gives brewers more freedom of expression in sake-making.

Discover the richness, complexity and uniqueness of our artisanal sake hand-made with passion by our award-studded master brewer Takanobu Sato.

17/04/2023

Big thanks to Wine Enthusiast and Kara Newman for recognizing Daishichi as a top sustainability-minded sake brewery and to Sake Discoveries and Jessica Joly for raising awareness about our initiatives!

At Daishichi, we are constantly looking for ways to produce our sake as naturally as possible and to make the most of nature’s bounty without waste, the ways that also contribute to the quality of our sake.

Our revolutionary super-flat rice polishing technique, which is 50% more time-consuming and labor-intensive than the mainstream, conventional process, allows us to target and eliminate off-flavors more efficiently and thereby avoid wasting the useful parts of the grains. We have installed solar panels on the roof of our rice polishing plant, which have an annual power generation capacity of 40,000 kilowatt and supply 30% of the electricity we need for rice polishing. We have also replaced the mercury lamps on the ceiling of the plant with LED lights, saving a one-third of the electricity we need for lighting the plant.

In our traditional kimoto yeast propagation process, we do not add commercially-prepared lactic acid but rely on the naturally-existing lactic acid bacteria in the atmosphere to more gradually and naturally develop the yeast in open vessels. The robust yeast prepared by this ultra-natural method helps us create the complex, full-bodied, umami-rich sake that Daishichi is known for, while it helps us reduce the carbon footprint of our sake. (We don’t necessarily use organic rice in our kimoto process.)

Sacrificing the quality of our sake or the experience of our precious customers for the protection of the environment is never an option for us. In collaboration with a local carbon board producer, we have developed and now use paper-made shock absorbers, instead of the Styrofoam ones, to protect the quality of our premium sake from the impact of shock and movements during transportation.

Heart-felt thanks again to Kara Newman, Jessica Joly, Wine Enthusiast and Sake Discoveries for shedding light on the sustainability initiatives of sake producers!

The traditional practices used to make this fermented rice drink make it inherently compatible with sustainability, experts say.

01/02/2023

Happy February!

We would like to suggest that you look no further in your search for a versatile yet unique and quality drink to enhance your Valentine’s Day dinner.

Daishichi junmai ginjo sake Masakura offers unparalleled versatility in food-pairing. It harmonizes well with sushi, oysters, seared scallops, steamed mussels, pasta with tomato sauce and shrimps, pizza with cheese and grilled chicken, beef steak, Caesar salad and just about anything else, creating varying synergies with each.

Masakura has received a gold medal from the female-only international panel of wine experts at the 14th Feminalise World Wine Competition held in France in 2021.

Masakura is available at shops and restaurants around the world including the online stores of Sake Social and True Sake in the U.S.; Art of Sake, Sake Chan, One Cellar and WALA in Singapore; Workshop ISSE in France; Starry Mart in the U.K.; Sake Kontor in Germany.

Thank you for sharing with us in the comment section your favorite place to buy or drink Masakura.

22/12/2022

Daishichi welcomes visitors in small groups (4 persons or less) with reservation.
We offer brewery tours and tastings between April and September and only tastings during our production season between October and March when our environment, including the balance of microorganisms, needs to be maintained strictly and free of external influence, due to the sensitivity of the traditional kimoto method of sake-making. Tours are provided in Japanese by our staff and in English using an audio guide.
For more details and reservation, we ask you to visit our website (https://www.daishichi.com/en/information/201910080000) and recommend this article by Kanpai!.
We are normally open for visits on weekdays during our business hours between 9:00 and 17:00 and closed on Saturdays, Sundays and National Holidays, with some irregular periods when we are closed to visitors in order to focus on production and shipping. Please check with us by email and make reservation well in advance. We look forward to welcoming you.

Daishichi is a Japanese sake brewery located in Nihonmatsu, a small town of Fukushima prefecture. Founded in 1752 by Saburouemon Yoshichika Ohta, the establishment has been managed by the same family for 10...

03/12/2022

Did you know that the traditional French baguette was facing the threat of extinction?
The United Nations has just announced the inscription of the French staple food to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage as a tradition to be preserved by humanity.
The decision was reportedly made in response to a request by the French government which faced a continuous decline in the number of traditional bakeries in the country.
While wine and cheese, as well as espresso and butter, are obvious matches for the baguette, why not take this opportunity to try also new ways to rediscover the traditional bread?
For example, you would be surprised by the harmony of the baguette with cheese or butter and creamy kimoto sake, made with the use of robust natural lactic acid.
Try one of Daishichi sakes, which are all made by the kimoto method capitalizing on the natural functions of lactic acid bacteria living in our brewery, with a baguette and a main dish for dinner. Kanpai!

01/12/2022

Happy December! Any fun idea to make the most of the final month of 2022?

24/11/2022

We pressed the first batch of sake for the season yesterday!
According to our 270-year-old tradition, Daishichi Master Brewer Takanobu Sato and his team of brewers crafted and hang the new "sugidama" or cedar ball at the entrance of our brewery, replacing an old one from last year.
Before the age of the internet, hanging a new sugidama was a way for brewers to inform their neighbors of the birth of the first batch of sake for the season.
We are happy to let you know that the first batch is looking great and are fully motivated to produce more of amazing sake in the coming months.
The sake pressed today will be matured for at least a year before shipping, just as all Daishichi sake is.
Thank you for wishing us luck for continued success in the season!

07/10/2022

Let us share with you a video filmed by Daishichi President Hideharu Ohta of the Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival, our favorite annual festival, held last weekend!
According to the over three centuries of tradition, large floats carrying lanterns and taiko drummers paraded through the old castle city to their final destination of the Nihonmatsu Shrine and lit up beautifully the streets around our brewery and the Kasumigajo castle park, as well as the faces of local and visiting spectators.
We are now fully energized and ready to get to work for a new sake brewing season to introduce more of our delicious sake to you around the world. Kanpai!

03/10/2022

With the leaves beginning to turn red in Japan, the exciting season for hot/warm sake has officially arrived!
So, let’s begin with the basics of hot/warm sake. Is the ideal type of sake to serve hot cheap sake? This is the famous myth that exists broadly outside Japan.
Junmai sake, which is often priced lower than ginjo sake regardless of the quality of final products due to the traditional pricing standards of sake, is normally suited better than ginjo sake for serving hot/warm.
This is because junmai sake tends to be richer in umami and body and more complex than ginjo sake. Junmai sake made by the kimoto method, using the natural power of lactic acid bacteria existing in the air, is especially ideal for making hot/warm sake, as the acidity typical of kimoto sake adds “spice” to hot/warm sake which could taste rather flat, depending on the type of sake used.
Daishichi kimoto junmai sake Rakutenmei, made of carefully selected high-quality rice, is our ultimate junmai sake, one of the most – if not the most - luxurious junmai sake you will find anywhere in the world.
Keep yourselves warm and enjoy the romantic season!

14/09/2022

Why is kimoto sake, the type of premium sake known to pair well with food, so rare to find?
The kimoto method, which does not use a lactic acid additive to ferment the ingredient rice of sake, was actually the only way to make the fermented rice drink until the outset of the 20th century.
When the Japanese government, seeking to boost its alcohol tax revenue, invented and promoted the use of the lactic acid additive in the early 20th century, a vast majority of some 8,000 sake brewers switched to the easier and faster method.
Shichiuemon Ohta, the eighth-generation owner/president of Daishichi and the grandfather of the current owner/president, however, decided to stick to the natural and labor-intensive traditional method in order to continue supplying the type of sake Daishichi’s loyal customers in Nihonmatsu had enjoyed for generations.
Today, Daishichi is one of very rare producers which have continued to make kimoto sake.
Enjoy Daishichi’s sake made naturally and traditionally by the kimoto method that can be matured and paired with a wide variety of cuisines including Western, Asian and Japanese dishes. Kanpai!

07/09/2022

Why not indulge yourself with Daishichi Kimoto Kijoshu and chocolate?
Kijoshu is the fortified sake that is made by replacing some of brewing water with sake and is naturally sweet.
The Daishichi version of kijoshu, produced generously and slowly by the traditional kimoto method, is well-structured, aromatic and elegant.
It pairs well also with blue cheese, dried fruits and various types of sweets as well as main dishes such as sautéed foie gras and game meat cooked in fruit sauce.
We recommend serving it slightly chilled in a large glass.
Daishichi Kimoto Kijoshu is a limited product introduced once in several years.
The edition currently available for sale was brewed in 2005. Kanpai!

15/08/2022

What drink do you serve with your poke bowl?
Sake is a great partner of poke for no mysterious reason.
Sake is known to blend in well with the vinegar and eggs contained in typical poke bowl dressings whereas wine doesn’t pair well with them.
The umami in sake, especially Daishichi’s kimoto sake, makes the drink a perfect match for the umami-rich ingredients of a poke, such as salmon, tuna and soy sauce. And finally, sake is made of rice, the same basic ingredient of a poke bowl.
Why not bring home with you a bottle of sake when you’re serving your favorite poke bowl today?

01/08/2022

What does Daishichi do to protect the environment? For example, we have installed solar panels on the roof of our rice polishing plant, which has an annual power generation capacity of 40,000 kilowatt and supplies 30% of the electricity we need for rice polishing. We have also replaced the mercury lamps on the ceiling of the plant with LED lights, saving by one third the electricity we need for lighting.

31/07/2022

Happy summer! Enjoy the sunny vibrant season with a refreshing glass of Daishichi Kimoto Umeshu, the pure and superbly-balanced umeshu, on the rocks or mixed with soda. Kanpai!

25/07/2022

Did you know that a lot of Daishichi sake can be served on the rocks because our sake is generally full bodied and rich with umami? Stay cool!

29/06/2022

Find exquisite ultra-natural Daishichi sake in your market.
Daishichi sakes are available in many countries and regions including the U.S., Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, France, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Australia.
The products offered vary from one market to another.
All Daishichi sakes are brewed manually in Nihonmatsu by our famous master brewer, Takanobu Sato, who is recognized by the Japanese government as the best artisan of natural kimoto sake.
They are bottled and matured also in Nihonmatsu at our brewery.
We hope you enjoy our sake, made naturally with passion and top-notch craftsmanship, with different types of cuisines in different corners of the world. Kanpai!

21/06/2022

Daishichi kimoto natural-drop junmai daiginjo Myoka Rangyoku, one of our top-end sakes, was first brewed at the dawn of the 21st century as an icon of Daishichi’s aspiration to take the quality of sake to new heights.
What makes Myoka Rangyoku special and different from most sakes, in short, is that it grows over time.
When it is still new, its fresh aroma is vivid and prevalent. The taste is still hard, it has a large innate power that has not blossomed yet.
Myoka Rangyoku is brought to market three to four years after aging to its full bloom condition in a temperature-controlled cellar within Daishichi’s brewery.
After this, there is still potential for further maturation and improvement. If stored in a dark place at around 10℃, the sake’s splendid aroma grows further in elegant composure, and it acquires matured complexity and roundness.
Hand-crafted by Japan’s best kimoto sake artisan with passion and sincerity, Myoka Rangyoku is a perfect sake to celebrate a special occasion or as a gift to appeal to the heart.

31/05/2022

You have heard of “kimoto” as a premium style of sake that’s gaining in popularity in Japan and internationally. So, what exactly is kimoto?
It’s a three-century-old method to brew sake by capitalizing on the functions of lactic acid bacteria and other microorganisms existing naturally in the air to cultivate and prepare yeast. The yeast, or “shubo,” cultivated in this way, enables a thorough and robust fermentation of the main mash to produce sake. During the extra-long, near four-week process of yeast cultivation, the master brewer monitors the conditions of the yeast in cultivation day and night and controls its temperature to assist different types of microorganisms to work in turns.
The result is a full-bodied sake with lots of umami, that pairs superbly with food and that matures as does premium red wine.
The downside of the kimoto method for producers is that it requires a lot of hard work, constant attention and the mastery of a top-notch craftsman. For this reason, many brewers used to fail to produce sake and thereby waste ingredient rice when kimoto was the only way to make sake. This is why in the early 20th century, the government developed and promoted an abbreviated method to produce sake more easily as alcohol tax was a main source of revenue for the government back then. Today, kimoto sake accounts for only a couple of percent of sake produced in Japan, mostly premium sake. About 90% of sake made in Japan is by the modern “sokujomoto” method and is suitable for relatively early consumption.
At Daishichi, we make all our sake by the kimoto method under the baton of our renowned master brewer Takanobu Sato who is recognized by the Japanese government as the best brewer of kimoto sake. Our sake is matured for at least one year before shipping and is suited for aging for up to decades (depending on the product) if stored in a cool and dark place.
Enjoy the product of Japan’s top-notch craftsmanship and the magic of nature.

26/05/2022

Take an idea from the sake afternoon tea served at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London and elevate your tea break with premium sake.

Daishichi kimoto junmai ginjo Raden, for example, is a good choice of sake to pair with cake and cream.

Raden, as all Daishichi sake, is made by the traditional kimoto method capitalizing on the functions of natural lactic acid bacteria for brewing.

An extra-aged version of our popular sake Masakura, Raden is matured a little longer (more than five years) than many of our sakes.

It is no mystery why Raden pairs so well with sweets made with fermented butter and other milk products.

Have a break, have a Raden!

23/05/2022

Ready to pamper your dearest father on Father’s Day?
Spend an unforgettable family moment over superb sake and sushi.
Daishichi kimoto junmai ginjo Masakura and sushi make a perfect pair, thanks to its crisp and clean taste of umami that harmonizes well with both vinegared rice and fish. If sushi is not his favorite, try Masakura with fried or grilled chicken, pizza, cheese or anything that you would normally not think of pairing with sake.
Masakura is known for its versatility. In fact, Daishichi President Hideharu Ohta would choose Masakura if he were to take only one bottle of sake with him to a dinner without knowing the menu in advance.
Mineral and fragrant, Masakura is made in a traditional and natural way and aged for a couple of years before shipping from our brewery.
You can normally find this popular sake in the United States, UK, France, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan.