Brewery History
Yonezawa Brewery hails from Nakagawa Village in Nagano, where they have been brewing sake with only locally-sourced rice and water from the Southern Alps of Japan since 1907. The founder, Yasotarou Yonezawa was a sumo wrestler who competed in local sumo tournaments under the name of “Ima-nishiki”. With the name used as their main brand of sake ever since. For over a century, their brewing process has remained unchanged. Their Ima-nishiki sake range has been beloved by the local people from the very beginning, but as domestic consumption of sake continues to decline, many local breweries like Yonezawa struggle to find a market.
In 2014, Ina Food Industry lent a helping hand to Yonezawa Brewery in order to help maintain the culture of sake brewing amidst the natural scenery of Nakagawa Village. This support has allowed the locals and the brewery to preserve their traditions, from the rice planting, cultivation, and harvesting, all the way through to the brewing itself. Since stepping in, IFI have modernised all of Yonezawa Brewery’s facilities, except the “fune”, a traditional sake press to process their sake range. While the traditional sake pressing method is very time and labour-intensive, it delivers a more elegant aroma and richer taste to the sake.
Regionality
Situated in the middle of Southern Nagano, Nakagawa Village is skirted by the Tenryu River. One of the most picturesque villages in Japan, with clear views of the Central and Southern Alps of Japan, the terrain surrounding Nakagawa Village is a fluvial terrace that was formed as a result of gradual erosion from the Tenryu River. Most of the area around Nakagawa Village is used as rice fields or orchards. Its relatively warm climate provides many natural benefits to the village, especially in sake rice cultivation.
Home to the ”Iinuma Rice Terrace”, Yonezawa Brewery revived the fortunes of these fertile terraces through dedicated cultivation of Miyama-nishiki sake rice.
