Dewazakura Shuzō is a Japanese sake brewery founded in 1892 by Seijirō Nakano in Tendō, Yamagata Prefecture. It is known for helping bring ginjō sake, once made largely for competitions, to a wider public.
A turning point came in 1980, when the brewery introduced Oka Ginjo at an accessible price. Its production relies on hands-on brewing and fermentation in small tanks, allowing careful temperature control and small-batch production. Alongside Oka Ginjo, its range includes junmai and junmai daiginjō sake, as well as aged and sparkling styles.
Dewazakura has exported sake since 1997, and its products are now available in more than 35 countries. The brewery aims to continue introducing sake to international audiences while preserving its hands-on approach to production.
Niizawa Jōzōten is a Japanese sake brewery founded in 1873 in Ōsaki, Miyagi Prefecture. It produces sake and liqueurs, and its best-known brands are Hakurakusei and Atago no Matsu. The company’s headquarters remain in Ōsaki, while sake production moved to a brewery in Kawasaki in 2011 after the original brewery was severely damaged by an earthquake.
Its guiding idea is “sake to enjoy with food”: the sake should complement a meal and refresh the palate between bites. The brewery uses a flat rice-polishing technique (henpei seimai) to remove parts of the grain that can produce unwanted flavours while preserving its umami. It stores its sake at −5 °C to maintain freshness.
The brewery sells its sake throughout Japan and began exporting Hakurakusei and Atago no Matsu in 2005. It continues to focus on improving quality and introducing its food-friendly sake to international audiences.
Matsumidori Shuzō is a Japanese sake brewery in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, producing sake since 1904. Its brands include Matsumidori, Rokkon, Reiho, and Deka.
The brewery’s roots date back to the Edo period, when it produced shubo - a fermentation starter supplied to other sake brewers in the Tsugaru region. As breweries began preparing their own starters, the company shifted to sake production. Today, it uses soft underground water from Mount Iwaki and carefully selected rice from Aomori and other regions of Japan.
Production relies on manual work, traditional rice steaming, and close monitoring of kōji preparation and fermentation. Since 2016, the brewery has produced only sake without added distilled alcohol. That same year, it became the first brewery in Aomori to obtain kosher certification.
Matsumidori and Reiho maintain close ties with local consumers in Tsugaru, while the Rokkon range provides scope for exploring new expressions of sake. The brewery’s long-term vision centers on preserving traditional knowledge, local ingredients, and quality, ensuring that its sake remains a distinctive part of Hirosaki in the years ahead.
Gotō Shuzōten is a sake brewery in Takahata, in Japan’s Yamagata Prefecture, founded in 1788. It is best known for its Benten brand, named after Benzaiten, the goddess of music and the arts, to whom a nearby shrine is dedicated.
Its approach centers on small-batch production, carefully selected rice, and a combination of hands-on craftsmanship and modern equipment. It also uses rice grown under contract in fields tended by its brewery workers. A distinctive feature is its kōji room, whose stainless-steel walls and ceiling help maintain a high standard of hygiene.
Its range includes sake made from Dewa Sansan, Dewa no Sato, Yuki Megami, Kame no O, Aiyama, and Omachi rice varieties, spanning junmai, junmai ginjō, and junmai daiginjō, alongside aged and seasonal releases, sparkling sake made from Tsuyahime rice, and a sake-based plum liqueur.
Yamamo is a family-run artisanal company founded in 1867 in Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture, and has been producing miso paste and soy sauce for seven generations. What sets Yamamo apart is its unique blend of tradition and innovation: while remaining faithful to time-honored fermentation techniques in wooden barrels and using local ingredients (soybeans, rice, wheat, and natural water from Akita), they also experiment with new fermented products and conceptual design.
Their philosophy integrates Japanese aesthetics, art, architecture, and gastronomy into a holistic experience. Yamamo’s products are characterized by complex umami profiles, long natural fermentation without additives, and remarkable purity of flavor.
They are especially known for their innovative lines of fermented sauces and seasonal miso pastes. Beyond production, Yamamo also offers tasting experiences and workshops, opening their historic house to visitors as both a cultural and culinary destination.
Their commitment to craftsmanship, sustainability, and aesthetics makes them one of the most forward-thinking fermentation producers in Japan.
Okunomatsu Shuzō is a sake producer based in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The Yusa family began brewing sake in 1716, and the business is now led by its nineteenth-generation successor. The name Okunomatsu combines Ōshū, a historical name for the region, with Nihonmatsu.
A defining part of its present-day operation dates to 1974, when Okunomatsu joined nearby breweries to form a production cooperative, now known as Higashi Nihon Shuzō Kyōgyō Kumiai. Okunomatsu sake is brewed at the cooperative, then processed and sold under the Okunomatsu Shuzō name. The brewing water comes from underground sources associated with Mount Adatara.
The company combines the skills of its brewers with modern equipment. It was among the early adopters of pasteurizing sake with a warm-water shower after bottling. Its range extends from everyday sake to ginjō and junmai daiginjō releases, as well as sparkling sake and fruit liqueurs.
Tōhoku Meijō is a Japanese sake brewery founded in 1893. It is best known for Hatsumago, a brand that includes sake ranging from honjōzō to junmai daiginjō.
The brewery’s distinguishing feature is its consistent use of the traditional kimoto method across its entire range. In preparing the fermentation starter, this method relies on the natural development of lactic acid bacteria and requires more time and work. The brewery combines it with modern brewing knowledge while seeking to preserve the character it associates with Sakata and its surroundings.
Hatsumago is sold in Japan, and some of its sake is also available overseas. The brewery aims to preserve and refine the taste of sake from Sakata while continuing to brew using the kimoto method.
Kojima Sōhonten is a Japanese sake brewery in Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture. Yazaemon Kojima founded it in 1597 as a shop that brewed and sold sake. It later became a supplier to the Uesugi family, who governed the Yonezawa domain. Its best-known brand is Toko.
The brewery still makes sake in Yonezawa, drawing on the area’s ingredients and climate. It uses soft groundwater originating from snowmelt on Mount Azuma and works with local growers to cultivate rice in fields fed by the same water system.
Under the Toko brand, the brewery produces junmai daiginjō, junmai ginjō and junmai sake, including seasonal and limited releases. It also makes plum liqueur. The brewery shares its history at the Toko Sake Museum, which opened in 1984 in a restored former brewery building. There, visitors can see sake-making equipment and learn about the craft passed down through generations of the Kojima family.
Gyutan is a Japanese dish originating from Sendai. It consists of pieces of thinly sliced beef tongue that's cooked on a charcoal grill. It's typically seasoned with salt or soy sauce-based tare sauce before grilling. The dish is usually accompanied by pickled vegetables, a combination of steamed rice and barley known as mugi gohan, or oxtail soup. Gyutan can also be served as a donburi over steamed rice, or as a curry, which is also accompanied by rice. It's believed that the dish was invented in 1948, when a local yakitori restaurant started to specialize in beef tongue dishes.
Hiyashi chūka is a chilled summer noodle meal consisting of cold ramen noodles topped with a colorful array of thinly sliced ingredients and dressed in a tart, chilled sauce. Despite the name containing a geographic reference to China, the item was entirely invented within Japan during the Showa period. Two distinct origin stories exist, both stemming from the need to combat the severe decline in hot soup noodle sales during the sweltering summer months. In 1933, the Yosuko Saihankan restaurant in Kanda, Tokyo, launched a menu item called Gomoku Hiyashi Soba, which arranged ten different toppings to visually resemble the slopes of Mount Fuji. A few years later, in 1937, the Sendai-based restaurant Ryutei created a similar cold item called Ryang-ban-men, utilizing cabbage, carrots, and a soy-vinegar dressing to provide nutritional balance in the extreme heat. Following World War II, the item gained massive nationwide popularity, eventually becoming synonymous with the arrival of summer. Establishments famously hang specific paper banners reading "Hiyashi chūka hajimemashita," signaling to the public that the hot weather has arrived and the cold noodles are finally available for purchase. Constructing the meal begins by boiling fresh wheat ramen noodles. Immediately after boiling, the hot strands are plunged directly into an ice-water bath or rinsed vigorously under cold running water. The chilling removes the sticky surface starch and tightens the wheat structure, resulting in a highly firm, chewy texture. The cold noodles are completely drained and placed in the center of a wide, shallow dish, frequently made of clear glass to emphasize the cooling aesthetic. The toppings are cut into thin, matchstick-like strips to blend seamlessly with the noodles' shape when lifted with chopsticks. Standard additions include thin strips of golden egg crepes known as kinshi tamago, pink boiled ham, roasted char siu pork, imitation crab sticks, crisp green cucumbers, blanched bean sprouts, and red tomatoes. The ingredients radiate outward from the central mound of noodles, creating a bright, high-contrast color palette. The entire assembly is generously drenched in a chilled dressing just before serving. The most widespread dressing combines soy sauce, water, rice vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil, yielding a sharp, sweet-and-sour profile. Another highly favored sauce variation relies heavily on rich, creamy sesame paste, creating a denser, nuttier flavor. A dollop of spicy yellow mustard is almost always placed on the rim of the plate, to be mixed into the liquid according to individual heat preferences. Across the Kansai region, the dish is simply referred to as reimen, which translates directly to "cold noodles," while the northern island of Hokkaido categorizes it as hiyashi ramen. In the Tokai region, particularly around Nagoya, a massive squirt of mayonnaise is mandatory, heavily squeezed directly over the arranged ingredients to add extra fat and tang. In Yamagata Prefecture, ice cubes are sometimes placed directly on the noodles to keep the temperature near freezing throughout the meal. Consuming the bowl of hiyashi chūka requires using chopsticks to vigorously mix the neat arrangement, ensuring the cold sauce thoroughly coats every strand and slice of vegetable before eating. The transition from a restaurant exclusive to a home staple occurred in 1960, when the Daikyu noodle company in Sendai began selling the first instant chilled noodle packs, which included a pre-mixed liquid soup sachet, thereby cementing cold noodles as a ubiquitous summer staple across the country.
Kurumi is a traditional combination of mochi—sticky rice cakes—and a creamy walnut sauce that hails from Iwate Prefecture. Nowadays, mochi cakes are usually bought pre-packed, and before they are coated in the walnut paste, they can be toasted and dipped or soaked in water. The walnut paste is usually made with roasted walnuts that are ground in a mortar together with sugar and soy sauce.
Kaiyaki-misu is a traditional dish originating from the Tsugaru region in Aomori prefecture. The dish is made by simmering scallops, eggs, leeks, and scallions in miso-based broth. The ingredients are traditionally cooked in a large scallop shell, and it's said that the longer the shell is used for the preparation of kaiyaki-misu, the more flavor it will add to the dish. In the past, mothers used to prepare this dish for their sick children. Nowadays, depending on the area, pieces of fish might be used instead of scallops.
Imoni is a hearty Japanese meat stew with many regional varieties. It is most commonly consumed in the Tohoku region, where most prefectures have their favorite imoni style and a preferred choice of ingredients. In the Yamagata prefecture, imoni is usually prepared with beef and various vegetables, all doused in a slightly sweet broth made with soy sauce, sake, and sugar. In the neighboring Miyagi prefecture, a crucial element is miso paste, which is added to the soy sauce broth. An entirely different style is employed in the city of Shonai, where the favorite choice of meat is pork, which is paired with miso-based soups. Regardless of the choice of meat and the type of broth, most imoni versions include sweet taro roots and a variety of different vegetables such as konnyaku, Welsh onion, cabbage, or mushrooms. Imoni is a seasonal dish, typically prepared during the colder seasons, and it is culturally significant for many citizens. One of the ancient traditions in Yamagata are the communal festivities where friends and family gather on the river banks and cook imoni in large pots over an open fire. Each September, the city of Yamagata organizes the annual Imoni Festival, where this comforting stew is cooked in an enormous six-meter pot.
Ita soba is a traditional type of Japanese soba noodles, made from buckwheat. This type of soba noodles is a specialty of Yamagata Prefecture. The soba noodles are cut slightly larger than your regular soba noodles, and they're very reminiscent of soba noodles that are made in the countryside. This is also known as the most simple soba style. The buckwheat noodles are traditionally served on large boards called ita, hence the name of the dish. Due to the fact that unpolished soba flour is used for these noodles, the aroma and texture of buckwheat is greater than in other soba types. Once served, ita soba is often accompanied by a broth in which the noodles are dipped before eating.
Kiritanpo is a traditional dish with origins in the Akita prefecture. It is made from cooked, half-smashed rice that is placed on a skewer, shaped into cylinders, then toasted over an open fire. The dish is traditionally consumed from autumn to spring, especially in November, when newly harvested rice is brought to the markets. It is quite common to serve kiritanpo to guests and visitors in Japan. Locals usually place kiritanpo in a hotpot with chicken, green onions, Japanese parsley, and mushrooms, but kiritanpo can also be grilled over the fire together with miso. There are two theories about its origin: one says that the woodcutters used to wrap leftover rice around a stick and consume it with miso, while they were working in the woods, and the other theory says that bear hunters from Akita prefecture served it as an accompaniment to game meat dishes. Regardless of the origins, both theories suggest that the people found a way to use the limited rice supplies instead of wasting them, and that is how kiritanpo was born. Today, one can consume kiritanpo at the annual Kiritanpo Festival, held in Odate.
Kenoshiru is a traditional soup originating from the Tsugaru region in Aomori prefecture. This nutritious country-style soup is made with a variety of ingredients: dried or deep-fried tofu, mountain vegetables such as warabi (bracken shoots), zenmai (fiddlehead fern), and fuki (Japanese butterbur), and vegetables such as carrots and daikon. The ingredients are finely chopped and cooked with soy sauce or miso. The name of the soup is derived from kayu-no-shiru, meaning rice soup, because in the past rice was a luxury item so people used to cook chopped veggies that look similar to rice. Nowadays, the shapes if the ingredients and seasonings may vary depending on the area and the specific tradition of each household.
Ichigoni is a traditional soup and a specialty of Hachinohe in the prefecture of Aomori. The soup is made with sea urchin, abalone, and a seafood broth. It's typically served with green onions and thinly sliced shiso herb. Ichigoni is considered a luxurious dish, which is why it's often prepared and served for festive and celebratory occasions or New Year. In the town of Hachinohe, there's an annual Ichigoni Festival at the end of every July. The name ichigoni means strawberry, referring to the poetical visual appearance of sea urchins in the cloudy broth – they look like wild strawberries in the morning dew.
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