Sake

Aichi's micro sakes
and the joy of tasting them all

Sake is a distinct Japanese alcoholic beverage brewed with Japanese rice, rice koji, and water. Micro sakes too are sprinkled all over the country and use the respective area's local rice and water, making for a plethora of factors which set one apart from the other: flavor, aroma, palatability, and aftertaste. Aichi Prefecture is blessed with such natural features as underground springs, such as those feeding the Kiso and Yahagi Rivers; the plains and mountains of the Owari and Mikawa regions, where quality rice is cultivated; and a favorable climate. These factors have culminated in the perfect recipe for sake brewing since antiquity. Each of the Nagoya, Owari, Chita, and Mikawa regions have their own breweries which let you taste their different products and enjoy all that sake has to offer.

Aichi's sake brewing has a long history going back as far as Japan's oldest Kojiki and Nihon Shoki chronicles. Sake production is also recorded as having been done around General Oda Nobunaga's Kiyosu Castle even during the tumultuous Warring States period (circa 1467–1573). In the beginning of the Edo period (1603–1868), Tokugawa Mitsutomo, the second lord of Nagoya Province, encouraged the spirit's production and expedited the brewing industry around Nagoya Castle and nearby Owari Province. The main areas of production were centered around the coasts of Chita Peninsula and the Western Mikawa region, where many of the very same sake breweries remain. The sake was shipped by boat to Edo, or present-day Tokyo, and gained a popularity on par with top-in-class production area Nada in Hyogo Prefecture. In the coming Meiji period (1868–1912), Handa City in southern Aichi would go on to host a brewing laboratory—unusual in Japan at the time—which would invent breakthrough techniques in the world of brewing.
Thanks to the tireless efforts by the brewers of yesteryear, their legacy is continued at over 40 breweries today with sake lovers around Japan raving about their brews.

Off to a brewery brimming with the history of Aichi's sake spot Chita and a pairing of Japan's iconic spirit with local Tokoname ware

Sawada Brewery is situated along the Ise Bay in Tokoname City on the Chita Peninsula, southern Aichi. The brewery is famous for its sake brand Hakuro. Sawada Brewery was established in 1848 at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, and in the Meiji period invented starter cultures which would go on to be the mainstream sake production method of today. This sake producer utilizes the local climate and water, and is praised for its careful brewing process using wooden tools just as in yesteryear—so much so that it won first place at the first Aichi Prefecture Sake Brewing Competition. Sawada Brewery keeps alive the brewing methods passed down from ancient generations while offering the new idea of pairing its brews with local Tokoname pottery sake cups and spreading the word about Japanese sake in a new way.

Touring the brewery for insight on the processes handed down for more than 170 years

Welcome to Sawada Brewery and its age-old, black-walled building accented with the slightly sweet scent of sake riding an ocean breeze from nearby Chita Peninsula. Behind the front brewery-run store is the sake brewery itself, offering tours with reservations (requiring a fee). The brewery is adamant about the tools and brewing methods used as well as raw ingredients, procuring sake rice from famous growing areas and contract growers in addition to spring water from the Chita Peninsula. You can even see the well from which the water used in the batches is drawn.
In 2021, Sawada Brewery finished its koji chamber where it grows koji mold using shallow wooden trays just like in the old days. They say that this brewery is the only in Aichi to use koji grown this way in all its spirits. Since the koji is made in small trays, it can be compared with that in the large containers, ensuring the umami of the rice on which the mold grows will translate into the sake.
Head into the preparation and storage room, and you're greeted by rows of tanks. The final process of mash creation is done by putting steamed rice, koji, and water into the tanks and allowing them to saccharify and ferment for 20–45 days, creating the end result of sake.

Note:
• Brewery tour content differs by course and season.

The building appearing just it did in the Edo days

The water used in production is a crisp and dry soft water, perfect for a mellow sake
Steaming sake rice in a large wooden steamer is rare around Japan

Koji production is the chief brewer's and brewing manager's most nerve-wracking job
Batches are put into smaller tanks and looked after to ensure the right qualities for each sake. (Bouffant caps required for the tour. Excluded here for photographic purposes.)

Have a blast shopping and tasting sake in Tokoname ware sake cups at a stand-and-drink bar

After completing the tour, it was time to taste all the mouthwatering sake we'd seen in the new Sakafune tasting room. The name "Sakafune" is close to the word "sakabune", used to describe the tank used in separating the mash into sake and lees, and the sakabune used in the firm, central counter is a remake of one from half a century ago.
One thing sake-lovers must try is the Sasarake Set, a collaborative sake tasting with a local Tokoname pottery. At the tasting, you can enjoy the flavors of local Hakuro sake with four different cups made by four different potters as well as a set pairing menu with Hakuro as you enjoy the appearance, scents, and flavors with your five senses.

Sakafune is open with its stand-and-drink bar as the chief attraction on Saturdays, offering drinks at a reasonable JPY 200 per drink.
And once you find your drink of choice, you can walk a few steps over to Sawada Kitagura store, run by the brewery. Drink a bit of multiple sakes, such as Chita no Hanatsuyu junmai-daiginjo sake, which uses local rice, water, and other ingredients; as well as the brewery's other distinct Chita micro brews.

The Sakafune tasting room, opened in 2024
The directly run Sawada Kitagura shop, where you can enjoy tastings and browsing for the sake of your choice

Sasarake Set with local sake paired with Tokoname ware cups
Hakuro, made with 100% local Wakamizu sake rice

Walk through the Historical Exhibition Room and swig back a cup of brewing water!

Sawada Brewery built its Historical Exhibition Room as a means to relay the brewery's history. It's just above the tasting room on the second floor and is free of charge to look through during business hours. The former Hojo Union, made up of brewers from around the Chita region and formed to improve sake quality and invent new technologies, had its laboratory at Sawada Brewery. And that greatly contributing laboratory is the very place where brewing using a starter culture took off in Japan, now acting as the cornerstone of modern brewing techniques.

On our return home from the tour, we indulged at the Shinzu water station, and so should you. Have a drink of brewing water, free of charge! The palatable soft water is perfectly drinkable, but is also recommended to steam rice, make coffee, or use as skin care. Feel the abundant grace of sake spot Chita.