Nada is one of Japan's most famous sake producing areas. Nada is made up of five villages, one of which is Mikage Village, where Kobe Shushinkan, the brewer of Fukuju, is located. There are eight breweries in Mikagego, and on weekends it is crowded with people who enjoy visiting the breweries. I feel like it's becoming more and more popular that it's easy to get away from central Osaka or Kobe and enjoy it casually.

Kobe Shushinkan's sake brewing is characterized by its commitment to the local area, in that all of the sake is made from rice grown locally in Hyogo Prefecture, Miyashimi water from the mountains and rivers of Rokko is used as the brewing water, and all the koji is handmade. Since 2003, Takenosuke Yasufuku, the current 2019th generation brewer, has been working on increasing the production ratio of Daiginjo and Junmai Ginjo, and creating sake by relying on employees instead of having a chief brewer. From this time on, we began to focus on exporting overseas. The results bore fruit in an unexpected way. Many of you may have seen a photo of a blue bottle of ``Fukuju Junmai Ginjo'' displayed on a table as the sake served at the official event of the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony. It was an opportunity to suddenly make the name ``Fukuju'' known to the world. It is still fresh in my memory that it was served at the official event in XNUMX when Asahi Kasei's Honorary Fellow Akira Yoshino was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

We must not forget that the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake was a major turning point. Kobe Shushinkan was originally called Fukuju Sake Brewery and was a brewery with a long history dating back to 1751. The five wooden storehouses were completely destroyed in the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995, and nothing could be done for two months after the earthquake. Despite the difficult times, the fact that we did not lose a single employee gave us hope. In December 2, two years after the earthquake, Fukuju Sake Brewery and Toyosawa Sake Brewery joined forces and established Kobe Shushinkan. With facilities for tasting and sales, an event hall, and a restaurant, the aim was to become more than just a sake brewery, and a base for disseminating local culture.

``Sakabayashi,'' a brewery restaurant inspired by the Satoyama area of ​​Rokko, is a way to spread the appeal of Japanese sake both domestically and internationally, and to contribute to ``local production for local consumption.'' Here you can enjoy unprocessed sake that can only be tasted at the brewery, locally grown seasonal vegetables, and carefully selected homemade tofu and soba noodles. At Tomeigura, a brewery direct sales store, in addition to alcoholic beverages, you'll be dazzled by the variety of delicious food items, including a wide variety of hard-to-obtain sake side dishes, delicacies, and seasonings from all over the country.

The current 16th generation owner, Takenosuke Yasufuku, is passionately working on the internationalization of sake. The website is available in XNUMX languages ​​and includes a page called ``VISIT US'', indicating that they are making an effort to accommodate a wide range of visitors from overseas. He also offers tours of the brewery, and has a multilingual leaflet with easy-to-understand explanations of sake and the manufacturing process, which is popular with inbound tourists. Commitment to the local area and an eye toward the world. This is a brewery that believes that the future lies in the presence of both.

Yoshie Hiraide Select “Fukuju” 2 Recommended Bottles

Fushou Junmai Ginjo

It is famous as the sake served at official Nobel Prize events. "It has a fresh fruit aroma and a beautiful crispness, like a ripe peach. It has plenty of flavor from the rice, but it's clear like white wine. This is a bottle you'll want to pair with cottage cheese and dried fruit."

Type: Junmai Ginjo sake
Raw material rice: Rice from Hyogo Prefecture
Rice polishing rate: 60%
Sake level: +2
720ml 1,600 yen (excluding tax)

Fukuju Daiginjo

Daiginjo has a fresh aroma reminiscent of peaches and pears. ``The taste is smooth and the fruity aroma lasts and is beautiful.I would like to pair it with crustaceans, oysters, etc.''

Type: Daiginjo sake
Raw material rice: 100% Yamada Nishiki from Hyogo Prefecture
Rice polishing rate: 50%
Sake level: +4

720ml 3,200 yen (excluding tax)

◆Fukuju Kobe Shushinkan Co., Ltd.

17-XNUMX-XNUMX Mikagezuka-cho, Higashinada-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture

078-841-1121

Toshie Hiraide

Born in 1962. Representative director of Corpo Kou Co., Ltd., which aims to internationalize sake and attract inbound tourists to regional areas. He is the sake samurai coordinator. IWC Ambassador. Shoryudo Ambassador (Inbound Ambassador for XNUMX Chubu Prefectures)

Premium X　With pride in sake brewing. Sake and brewery selection recognized by the world

``Sake Samurai'' was started in 2006 by the Japan Sake Brewery Youth Council, a national organization of young brewers, in order to restore the pride of sake and spread the culture of sake not only within Japan but also to the world. Sake Samurai Coordinator Yoshie Hiraide, who is working to realize the dream of turning Sake into a tourism-based nation, will introduce unique sake breweries that Japanese sake lovers should visit at least once, and the sake they want to taste there.

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