A brewery with over 300 years’ history rooted in its local community
The Koikawa Sake Brewery was founded in 1725 in the midst of the Edo Era, in the region of Shonai in Yamagata Prefecture. Since that time, it has been putting all of its energy into making “jizake” or “local sake”, sake made and drunk by the surrounding community, for over 300 years.
Using Kame-no-O rice – another name local to this part of Yamagata – brewing with underground water that has flowed down from the famous peak Mt. Gassan, and with a team of locals running and operating the brewery, the principles that underpin this brewery are simple but fundamental – dedication to the community they belong to and the region they come from.
The hometown of the legendary “Kame-no-O” rice variety
You may have heard of a manga called Natsuko-no-Sake, which feature a certain “legendary rice variety” called “Kame-no-O”. The rice variety originated in Amarume, the very same birthplace as the Koikawa Sake Brewery. Though it disappeared from production for many years, the president of the Koikawa Sake Brewery, Mr. Sato, was instrumental in contributing to its resurrection, and the brewery continues to make sake with it to this day.
A sake brewery with a background in wine, leading to wine barrel-aged sake
It may surprise you to know that 11th generation president Ichiro Sato was previously employed at a Japanese winery, working in both sales and marketing and even spending time in France to further his studies. His experiences with winemaking led to a more discriminating approach when it came to sake making.
When the Mottox Craft Sake team began its wine-barrel aged sake project “Haregi”, knowing that he shared an equally strong passion for wine, Mr. Sato was the first person we approached. Using his wide-reaching network in both industries, Mr. Sato brought onboard wine and sake researchers alike to consult on the project. The result was “Haregi Koi”, the very first of the Haregi series. A dry, aged Koikawa sake, taken as the base, is then matured in an oak barrel, giving a new sake infused with the spirit of wine. We hope you will enjoy this unique sake experience.
