Walking through Daishichi Brewery, our footsteps echoing in the high-ceilinged hallway, Nihonmatsu’s largest sake brewery felt more like a monastery than a production facility. I noted the state of the brewery to my guide, and he smiled, assuring me that when brewing season kicked off a few weeks later, the monastery would become a circus, full of craftspeople hell-bent on producing one of Japan’s finest sakes.
Daishichi Sake Brewery’s History in Nihonmatsu City
Fukushima’s Nihonmatsu City’s modest stature belies its historical importance as a post town along the Oshu Kaido, one of the five main roads connecting Japan’s capital of Edo (now Tokyo) with the rest of the country during the Tokugawa Shogunate. The magnificent Nihonmatsu Castle stood guard over the town, presided over by many warlords throughout its history: Date Masamune, Gamo Ujisato, and, eventually, the Niwa clan, who used the castle to unsuccessfully resist the government forces during the Boshin War between Shogunate loyalists and the new Meiji Government.
Nonetheless, the presence of Daishichi Brewery since 1752, now under its 10th generation of sake masters, demonstrates the protection the castle afforded to the town. Founded by the Ota family, who came to the area with the Niwa Clan, Daishichi quickly established itself with the support of its patron lords. Tapping into the rich natural water sources, the brewery began producing sake that was extraordinary for its time, and chosen as the official sake for the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Showa in 1928.
Daishichi feels like a paradox. On the one hand, it is a thoroughly modern brewery with its cavernous new facility built between 2001 and 2005, still searching for and finding new ways to innovate in sake production, like its unique “superflat rice polishing process.” On the other hand, it is a brewery rooted in sake’s deepest, oldest traditions, using the time-tested kimoto brewing method for no other reason than to create sake with the complex flavors that modern methods have yet to reproduce.
Complex Sake Flavors Using the Kimoto Brewing Method
For the uninitiated, the kimoto method was invented in the early 18th century to produce natural lactic acid during fermentation. The lactic acid kills off all the bad bacteria before the yeast takes over and eliminates it. In modern sake production, artificial lactic acid, which is easier to control and doesn’t need to be produced, is added to the mash. The result is a sake that is more consistent batch to batch, but also lacks the complex flavors that come from the almost pure yeast that natural lactic acid helps create. If this all sounds too scientific, the main point is that natural lactic acid does a better job at protecting the flavors of sake than artificial lactic acid does. It also allows the sake’s flavor to improve over time, like a fine wine.
I also noticed that Daishichi had four different rooms for making koji, the magical yeast that transforms ordinary rice into the nectar of the Japanese gods. Every other brewery I have visited only has one koji room. My guide explained that four different strengths of koji are required to match four different stages of fermentation, and each requires its own room to avoid contamination. Score another point for process integrity.
As you might guess, the main drawback of the kimoto method is its labor intensity. Compared with modern techniques, the kimoto method takes twice as long and requires skilled laborers who constantly monitor and make subtle adjustments to the process. For Daishichi, however, there is no other option. Abandoning the kimoto method would be abandoning the very essence of Daishichi sake, so they stubbornly stand by it, an old guard protecting the industry’s richest heritage.
Innovating Sake Production Using Superflat Polishing
Daishichi isn’t simply a brewery that sticks closely to its traditional roots, it is also the inventor and, currently, the sole user of a rice-polishing process known as superflat.
Rice polishing is a standard process in sake brewing that removes the husk of the rice kernel. This husk contains proteins, fats, and other contaminants that would create off-flavors during the sake brewing process. The more of the husk that can be removed, the purer the flavor. On the other hand, the more the rice is polished, the smaller the grain becomes, meaning it takes more highly polished rice to make a bottle of sake than lesser-polished rice, which drives up the price.
Rice polishing machines typically tumble rice kernels, so the finished kernels become spherical in shape. What Daishichi realized was that a natural rice kernel is oblong, not round, so when you polish it into a sphere, you will simultaneously lose some of the desirable core of the kernel while leaving more of the husk. Therefore, the optimal rice polishing method would be to polish the kernel in its original shape, and this is the origin story of superflat rice polishing.
Superflat rice polishing results in a sharp reduction of unwanted materials while retaining a bit more of the core, which is why Daishichi invented and uses it in their brewing process. Despite the obvious advantages, however, they are the only brewer using this process. Why? Superflat rice polishing takes three times as long as standard rice polishing. Again, Daishichi chooses the quality of the finished product over the time required to produce it.
Tasting the Quality of Daishichi Sake
Are the results worth waiting for? A tasting would be needed to provide conclusive evidence, which is fortunately included in my tour price. Seven of Daishichi’s finest spirits were arranged on an elegant dining table, and several of the sakes had specific types of glasses from which to taste them, much like a wine tasting.
The Junmai Kimoto is Daishichi’s classic, produced since 1983. It is highly versatile, pairing well with red and white meat and seafood, and as a kimoto sake, it holds up well when served warm. The 2023 Junmai Gingo Masakura has the “scent of spring,” and is a silky sake that pairs well with seafood, particularly oysters. The 2020 Myoka Rangoku is Daishichi’s highest-grade sake, made with premium Yamada Nishiki rice polished to 50% using the superflat method, which gives it a taste similar to rice polished to less than 40% in the traditional method. Packaged in a bottle made in Vienna with a pewter label, this sake is served cold and pairs with white meats and seafood, or can just be enjoyed on its own.
There were others too, too many and complex to keep track of, surprisingly different, from each other and from other makers. Even as my head became foggy with alcohol, it became clearer to me as to why Daishichi chose to forge the more challenging path of the kimoto process and the longer wait of superflat polishing. I found the answer in the lingering notes of sakes that danced on my palate long after the sip had left my mouth.
Visiting Daishichi Brewery
The Daishichi Brewery is located in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, just north of Koriyama City. The nearest train station is Nihonmatsu Station on the JR Tohoku Line, a five-minute taxi ride or 25-minute walk from the brewery (please do not drive if you plan to taste the sake). Tours are available during the non-production period from mid-April to September, mornings and afternoons, Sun-Fri (except national holidays). Tours are conducted in English using well-produced materials displayed on an iPad by the guide, although the guide is not fluent in English. Tour groups can be one to six people, and the fee is 3,500 yen, including tasting, or 1,500 yen for just the tour. You can also have a partial tour during the production season, but some facilities are off-limits due to sake production. The fees are 500 yen less during this period.
Tour reservations can be made a week in advance by contacting the brewery.
Daishichi Sake Brewery
FOOD- 1 Chome-66 Takeda, Nihommatsu, Fukushima 964-0902, Japan
- ★★★★☆
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