Kita Shuzo 喜多酒造

Kirakucho  喜楽長

East of Lake Biwa in Shiga prefecture, female Toji Mayuko Kita strives to craft sake that is graceful and supple with a rich core of umami, she calls it a sake that is ‘taoyaka’, in Japanese. 

Established in 1820 by Ginzaemon Kita, the brewery is now led by 8th-generation president Yoshimichi Kita (father to Mayuko). Kirakucho is the name of the sake which has been the brewery’s main brand for since its foundation 200+ year history. The Japanese characters of Kirakucho stand for happiness (Ki), fun or a good time (Raku), and long life (Cho) and the wish is for each customer to live a long, happy life as they enjoy sake on any occasion. Blessed by the natural spring water that originates from the snow melting on the Suzuka Mountains, it slowly is filtered through the land, becomes the well water running under the brewery and is a very big part of the sakes that are crafted. 

Since middle school, Mayuko Kita had already decided her career path, which was to eventually become the 9th generation and continue the brewery’s rich history. After gaining a finance degree and working for a food company for a few years, she returned to the brewery in 2015. Working in the brewery had its challenges, but her strong will allowed her to persist and also allowed for changes to be made in some processes so that everyone can work much more efficiently. Working in tandem with a Noto Toji, Mayuko learned the ways of the Noto Toji Guild’s style of crafting sake, focusing on the propagating quality koji and a slow and gradual ferment, managing temperature in order to get full flavour development in the sake. 

Mayuko Kito feels that “sake is living” and sake is not “made” by people, it’s made from the natural waters from the mountains, the yeast and koji in the environment, and the cold winters that aid in a more slow gentle ferment. The role of the brewery team is to nurture or raise the sake and guide it to become a sake as if raising one’s own children.

With a focus on rice grown locally, the sakes show a good sense of place and also style of the brewery.  The brewery is in very good hands for years to come with Mayuko Kita leading production.