Imanishi Shuzo 今西酒造

Mimurosugi  みむろ杉

In the land known to be the “birthplace of Sake in Japan”, 14th-generation Masayuki Imanishi continues to craft the Mimurosugi sakes, which are known to be fresh and juicy with soft, floral aromatics at Imanishi Shuzo, a brewery founded over 350 years ago in 1660.

It was in 2011, when Masayuki was 28, that he returned to his hometown of Miwa in Nara to take over operations from his father as the brewery president. The transition wasn’t easy at the beginning as the brewery was operating in the red. He quickly sold off other projects to focus purely on brewing sake, which also had its challenges. Before Masayuki’s return, over half the production was futsushu and the focus had been on mass production. It wasn’t until a chance encounter with a local sake retailer that we assessed the sake for its current quality (which was pretty average) and its potential to improve in quality. This meeting opened young Masayuki’s eyes to focus on crafting quality sake and wanting to work with more retailers who were passionate about quality local sake, like this retailer. It was then in 2012 that the ‘Mimurosugi Roman series’ was born. This is the line of sakes with a focus on freshness with soft floral/fruity aromatics. This style of sake was achieved through brewing in smaller batches, with attention to detail in each process of the brewing process, careful selection of yeast, and storage/maturation in a below-zero environment right after pressing and bottling the sake. This became a line of sakes only available through authorized retailers and also exported overseas

Being the only brewery in town and with a deep love and respect for his hometown, the hope is that through the Mimurosugi sakes, he can convey more of the history and the roots of the town of Miwa, a place with a strong connection to sake, thanks to the Ohmiwa Shrine at the base of Mount Miwa. Being one of the oldest Shinto Shrines in the country, it is here where Tojis from all over Japan visit at the beginning of the brewing season to pray for a successful year and also where the Sugidama are produced. These cedar balls are produced and blessed at the shrine and sent to breweries across Japan to be hung at the entrances to signify that the first sake of the season has been brewed. Mt Miwa is also a source of high-quality Yoshino cedar, where the brewery tools, barrels, and buckets are made from. 

The water sourced for brewing is from an underground well at the brewery is classified as soft water and originates from the sacred Mt Miwa. This same water is also used to grow the sake rice for the contract growers that Imanishi Shuzo sources from, which is primarily Yamadanishiki but also uses others including Tsuyuhakaze, a sake rice specific to Nara. 

Another project taken on by Imanishi Shuzo is crafting sake with the Bodaimoto, which is the oldest method for preparing the Shubo or yeast starter. Its roots originate from ancient texts of Shoryaku-ji Temple, which happens to be very close to Imanishi Brewery. While having respect for this historic method, Masayuki adapts his approach so the resulting sake can be paired with modern foods. There is still a strong connection to the traditional methods as the process is the same as well, and the water source hasn’t changed from when this method was originally documented hundreds of years ago.

Overcoming many obstacles since returning to the brewery, Masayuki Imanishi and his team continue to look ahead, crafting honest, pure, quality sakes in the land where sake brewing originated and hope that each sip can express some of the rich history of sake and its connection with the town of Miwa.