Oita Sake Breweries
Oita Prefecture is located on the island of Kyushu. It borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northwest, Kumamoto Prefecture to the southwest and Miyazaki Prefecture to the south. In the Edo period, various types of sake developed in each region, manufacturing methods were developed, and Izakaya (Japanese bar) appeared. The style of sake that is familiar to us today has been completed. Sake “Bungo Nuri Nukizake”, which first appeared in 1468, was made by brewing glutinous rice, white rice, jiuqu, and shochu all at once, and after 3 to 40 days, grinding with a mortar and silk-straining. It seems that it was widely loved by the common people because it tasted like modern white sake. After that, in the country of Bungo in the Edo period, “Asajizake”, which is known all over the country, was born. Hemp liquor is a sweet turbid liquor made by adding steamed rice, rice jiuqu, and water, sealing it, burying it in the soil, and aging it until the next year’s soil. The name can also be seen in “Fantai Kouki” and “Otogi Zoshi”. It is said that it was also called “soil cover” because it is buried in the soil and covered with grass. The Hiji clan made and stored hemp liquor in the Ninomaru of Yokokujo, and used it as a gift to the shogunate. Oita sake can be said to be a sake that follows the flow of the manufacturing process of this hemp local sake.
Fujii Shuzo Sake Brewery
Fujii Sake Brewery is a company founded in 1872. Good sake can only be produced if there are good ingredients, good water, and a natural environment suitable for brewing. The brewery is located in the mountainous area of central Oita prefecture, and there are limestone caves scattered nearby which produces good quality water. For this reason, sake brewing companies in the prefecture are among the first to acquire ISO14001 and are aiming for environmentally friendly production activities with the motto “Sake brewery in the village where the scenery is clear”. We will continue to value the blessings of nature, become one with the local community, improve our sake brewing technology, and continue to strive to deliver high-quality sake that pleases everyone.
Brewery Info
Representative: Toru Fujii
Address: 213−2, Notsumachi, Usuki-Shi, Oita
TEL: +81-974-32-2008
FAX: +81-974-32-2410
Foundation (year) 1872
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Inoue Sake Brewery
Brewery Info
Representative: Tikako Inoue
Address: Ooaza Oohi 2220-1, Hita, Oita
TEL: +81-973-28-2211
FAX: +81-973-28-2910
Foundation (year) 1804
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Kayashima Sake Brewery
Kayashima Sake Brewery was founded in 1873. The sake brand “Nishi no Seki” was named by the second president of the company. Nishi means western Japan, and Seki means a Yokozuna (a grand champion). He hoped that it would become a representative sake of western Japan, in which the company was located, and he firmly determined to make every effort to realize his dream. In 1907, “Nishi no Seki” won the first prize in the all Japan sake contest which was held for the first time, since then it has received many prizes. The brewery consists of many wooden buildings that were built around 1900, and they were registered as the national tangible cultural assets in 1997. They have been well preserved, and they are being used even today.
Brewery Info
Representative: Susumu Kayajima
Address: 398 Taketa-machi, Taketa-shi, Oita
TEL: +81-974-63-3816
FAX: +81-974-62-2754
Foundation (year) 2009
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Kuge Honten Sake Brewery
Kugehonten sake brewery was founded in Usuki City, Oita Prefecture, a brewing town blessed with the bounty of the sea, in the first year of Man’en (1860), with a brewery from the feudal lord, Kanto Inaba. Since then, sake with the original taste of raw materials (rice, wheat, potatoes, plums, kabosu ) matches the local food. In recent years, about 60% of the raw materials are agricultural products from Oita prefecture, but they are determined to increase the ratio in the future.
Brewery Info
Representative: Satozo Kuge
Address: 382 Emuta, Usuki, Oita
TEL: +81-972-63-8000
FAX: +81-972-63-8022
Foundation (year) 1860
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Nakano Sake Brewery
Kitsuki City is a castle town located in the northeastern part of Oita Prefecture, at the southern end of the Kunisaki Peninsula. This castle town, which still retains the atmosphere of the Edo period, used to be lined with sake breweries. With the passage of time, most of the houses were closed and remaining the smallest Nakano Sake Brewery, which is the farthest from the castle town. Since its founding, Nakano brewery has been manufacturing sake for 140 years, naming it “Chie Bijin” in the name of our proprietress “Chie” so that it will be more delicious and loved. The natural water used in Nakano Sake Brewery has won the highest gold award for the third consecutive year at the “Monde Selection”, a global competition called the Olympic Games for Food. By receiving the highest gold award for the third consecutive year, we received the honor of the “International Highest Quality Trophy”.
Brewery Info
Representative: Atuyuki Nakano
Address: Minamikitsuki 2487-1, Kitsuki-city, Oita
TEL: +81-978-62-2109
FAX: +81-978-63-4160
Foundation (year) 1874
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Nishinohomare Meijyo Sake Brewery
In the 4th year of Keio, sake brewing was started by the founder, Reisaburo Hida, in Shimogego, north of Oita prefecture in Buzen province. At that time, as a side business, it was a cottage industry made from local rice, but gradually it developed as a brewery worthy of supplementing the surrounding area. Kasutori shochu, which uses sake lees from sake brewing, also began to be produced around this time. After many changes, the six companies of Nagayoshi Sake Brewery, Sagara Sake Brewery, Miho Tsuru Sake Brewery, Ichiten Sake Brewery, Takeyoshi Sake Brewery and the founding brewery Masamune Yama Sake Brewery, which existed in the entire Shimoge area, joined together in 1958, West Japan. They established a joint bottling company as Meijo Co., Ltd. After that, it became “Nishi no Honor Meijo Co., Ltd.”
Brewery Info
Representative: Ishii Yoshihide
Address: Fukushima 2065-2, Nakatsu, Oita
TEL: +81-979-32-2600
FAX: +81-979-32-6689
Foundation (year) 1868
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Sanwa Shurui Sake Brewery
Sanwa sake brewery is a comprehensive brewing company that handles a wide range of manufacturing related to fermentation, such as sake, wine, brandy, liqueur, and food materials made from barley fermented liquid, including the barley shochu “Iichiko”. In response to the blessings of clear air and pure water brought about by deep nature, they have established the “Iichiko Hita Distillery” based on a new idea. It is “Sake no Mori that nurtures raw sake”. All the advanced techniques of shochu brewing, such as ” Zenkojizukuri Sake”, which is brewed only with barley koji for both primary and secondary preparation, and “Long-term storage sake”, which is slowly laid in oak barrels and enamel tanks that are used to enhance the taste.
Brewery Info
Representative: Wada Hisatsugu
Address: 2231-1 Yamamoto, Usa City, Oita
TEL: +81-978-32-1431
FAX: +81-978-33-3030
Foundation (year) 1958
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Yatsushika Sake Brewery
Yatsushika sake brewery was founded in 1864, the first year of the Genji era, and is celebrating more than 150 years. Here in Kokonoe, we are working hard to “make sake that you can drink with peace of mind anytime, anywhere”. Yatsushika brewery’s property is “humans.” Under the corporate motto of ‘self-other training, honesty, kindness, and peace’, personality training must be the first priority of the company, and the president must also improve his personality. Sake brewing requires a rich natural environment, beautiful water, air, human skills and spirit. We think this is the same as creating the human mind. Each drop of Yatsushika’s sake is full of heart and brings out a rich, quiet and mellow taste.
Brewery Info
Representative: Masunao Aso
Address: 3364 Migita, Kokonoemachi, Kusugun, Oita
TEL: +81-973-76-2888
FAX: +81-973-76-3071
Foundation (year) 1864
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Yotsuya Sake Brewery
Yotsuya Sake Brewery is located in Usa City, Oita Prefecture, at the foot of Usa Hachiman in northern Kyushu, overlooking Suo Nada, and was founded by Kenpachi Yotsuya in 1919. The brewery’s shochu brewing is full of creativity to create new flavors while preserving the techniques that have been passed down from generation to generation.
Brewery Info
Representative: Yoshifumi Yotsuya
Address: 4130 Nagasu, Usa City, Oita
TEL: +81-978-38-0148
FAX: +81-978-38-6130
Foundation (year) 1919
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Bungo Meijo Sake Brewery
The store has been making sake and shochu from the 43rd year of the Meiji era to the present day in a place blessed with such an environment. The brewing industry is a traditional cultural industry and has long been closely associated with the region. Above all, the brewery has a deep connection with agriculture that produces rice and wheat, which are the raw materials for sake and shochu. Sake brewing is a traditional cultural industry that is rooted in the local area and lives with the area. The brewery uses agricultural products born from the soil of Saiki, the water of the clear stream Bansho River, and the culture that has been passed down from ancient times by the predecessors to make sake and shochu.
Brewery Info
Representative: Takayuki Kariu
Address: 789-4 Aza Kamenokou, Saikicity Naokawa Yokogawa, Oita
TEL: +81-972-58-5855
FAX: +81-972-58-5857
Foundation (year) 1910
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