Brewery History
Toshimaya began as a sake store and tavern with its founder, Toshimaya Juemon. The store first opened at Kamakura Waterfront in 1596. The tavern served many samurai, merchants, and lay-workers during the reconstruction of the old Edo castle.
The Toshimaya in Kanda would later evolve into Toshimaya Corporation, which began brewing sake under the Kinkon brand in the middle of the Meiji Period. Kinkon has then been the distinction of being the sole sake to be used as a sacred offering at both the Meiji Jingu and Kanda Myojin Shrines. Skillfully brewed by their master brewer, Kinkon stands as one of Tokyo’s quintessential sake offerings. Brewed using water from their 150m-deep aquifer, whose water originates at Mt. Fuji, together with carefully-selected sake rice, Kinkon has been awarded numerous gold prizes at the Annual Japan Sake Awards.
Using the same high quality and standard, Toshimaya also brews some modern-style sake in small batches under the Rita and Oku-no-kami brands. Rita began as a crowdfunded sake project that is limited, while Oku-no-kami is a batch-brewed craft sake, supplied mainly to restaurants and “izakaya”.
Regionality
The Toshimaya Brewery is located in Higashi-murayama, west of Tokyo. This was once an agricultural area, noted for its production of sweet potatoes, having milder weather compared to central Tokyo. The terrain consists of high ground, which is quite resistant to natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, and has plentiful subterranean water, well-suited to sake brewing.
Although Toshimaya does not grow their own rice, they have been using Hattan-nishiki sake rice from Hiroshima for quite some time. They have ultimately decided that Hattan-nishiki is the most compatible with their water when they experience the need to use other sake rice.
