MORIKI SHUZO

MIE

Known since ancient times as the land of the ninja, Iga is also the town that is home to Moriki Shuzo in the prefecture of Mie. Located in central Japan, Mie faces the Pacific and lies between the cities of Nagoya, Osaka and Kyoto. The Mie coastline extends over 1000 kilometers and contains beautiful rugged coasts and beautiful scenery. Mie is rich in nature, and as such over one-third of its area is designated as nature reserves and parks.

Rumiko Moriki is the 4th generation of her family to own her brewery. With her husband Hideki they share the role of Kuramoto [Brewery Owners] of this tiny brewery. The first generations of the Moriki family had always employed a Toji [Master brewer] to create their sake, but during Rumiko's parents generation, times were financially difficult and so out of necessity her parents started working alongside the Toji to make their sake. When Rumiko's father was unable to continue working at the brewery in the mid-90's, Rumiko and Hideki who had recently married, stepped in and started working alongside the Toji instead. Nine years later Rumiko and Hideki took over the role of Toji themselves. It was at this time that they committed to making only Junmai [Pure Rice] sake, at the highest level they could achieve.  Now in 2022 the ‘Hanabusa’, ‘Tae no Hana’ and ‘Rumiko no Sake’ selections of sake are the quintessence of their dedication to top quality brewing.

Nearly all work at Moriki Shuzo is done by hand by a very small team of five. Their belief is that if they can make sake better by hand than machine, there is no need for the machine. Rumiko's personal motto is "a lot of hard work in the making of the best quality sake she can, means being honest to her customers”. A testament to truly incredible sake brewer. It is truly a remarkable brewery with a wood fired boiler being used to steam the rice, wooden vats full of steamed rice are carried on the Moriki’s and their workers shoulders, including up wooden planks to get the rice into the fermentation tanks.  About 25% of their sake production is from their own organically farmed rice, and the rest is sourced from areas that specialise in the particular rice variety that will produce the best result for the style of sake they wish to brew. The Moriki’s continue use Yeast Strain #6 in their sake which is very unusual nowadays, along with allowing wild yeast to start ferment in many of their sake.

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