CHIYO SHUZO

NARA

Nara prefecture is one of only eight prefectures out of the 47 prefectures in Japan that is landlocked and therefore not bordered in some way by ocean or sea. Nara is surrounded by the four prefectures of Osaka to the West, Kyoto to the North, Wakayama to the South and Mie to the East and over half of its land is covered by forest. Nara occupies an important position in history as it was the location of Japan’s first state. The ancient capital, Nara Heijo-kyo was established in 710 A.D. and is now a World Heritage site that recently celebrated the 1300th anniversary of its founding. In the same way, Nara Prefecture can also be considered the historical heartland of sake where centuries ago “Nara-zake” was a term to signify sake of exceptional quality.

Chiyo Shuzo is a very small brewery founded in 1873 which moved to its present location in Gose, located in the southwest part of the Nara basin near Mount Katsuragi (known as Shinomine in the local dialect) in 1902. Their very small production consists primarily of many, small batch meigara [brands] which are in high demand because of their quality and also their limited availability.

The Toji [Master Brewer] at Chiyo Shuzo is Tetsuya Sakai who started his career in the wine industry when he worked for Grace Winery for 5 years along with a 3 month winemaking stint in California. After marrying into the family who owned Chiyo Shuzo, Sakai-san’s career path changed to becoming a sake brewer. After 9 years working alongside the previous Toji at Chiyo, Sakai-san eventually took over the role as Toji in 2004 and then in 2007 also became the Kuramoto [Brewery Owner]. In 2000 Sakai-san started creating a range of sake to specifically showcase local regionality. Named after the nearby mountain this range is called Shinomine. A second range of products labeled under the name ‘Kujira’ are made exclusively from rice grown by Chiyo Shuzo. As of 2024 Sakai-san manages around 5 hectares of rice paddies where he grows Yamada Nishiki, providing about 15% of their rice needs each year. The remaining rice is sourced from 26 rice farmers spread across Nara and nearby regions. With both the Shinomine and Kujira ranges Sakai-san focuses on producing elegant and focused sake whilst keeping alcohol in a slightly lower range of 14-16%. A fastidious approach to producing a high quality koji are the building blocks of the Chiyo style - crisp, clean and characterful. Simply superb stuff!

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