Interview with Fuji Takasago Sake Brewery

At Arigato Travel, we love the Shizuoka area and especially Fujinomiya! This is a great destination when you can see Mt Fuji (on sunny days!), but also for delicious food (they have a special yakisoba dish and other local favorites!) and Japanese Sake. 

One of our favorite Sake breweries in Shizuoka is called Fuji Takasago. After regularly going there for our own shopping needs, we had the opportunity to do a LIVE broadcast there a few weeks ago. We totally recommend that you visit them if you like Japanese Sake and want to learn more about the making process! But before you can travel there, let’s hear more about them!

Thank you for your time today! Could you please introduce yourself and share a bit about your position at the Takasago Sake Brewery?

I’m Masatoshi Takekawa and I am part of Fuji Takasago Brewery’s business and sales strategy division.

Our team has visited your brewery more than once and we can confirm that the Sake you’re making is very delicious! How long has your brewery been around and how did it start?

Established in 1830, a merchant from Omi named Masakishi Yamanaka founded the sake brewery here in Fujinomiya City in the Shizuoka Prefecture.

Coming directly from Mt Fuji, the Fujinomiya water is very pure, does that make your Sake special?

It takes 100 years for the underground water to flow from Mount Fuji to our storehouse. For the last 100 years, natural filtration has been turning Mount Fuji’s underground water into super soft water and creating the source of Takasago’s soft sake.

 

Foreigners visiting Japan are often really interested to learn more about Japanese Sake and we’d love to recommend them to visit your brewery! Do you offer tours in English or have any English materials?

We appreciate our customers that come from overseas. We don’t have any for now but will be making English materials in the future.

As a culinary travel company food is very important for us! What kind of dishes would you recommend pairing with your local sake?

There are many varieties of Japanese sake, so it is hard to pair them with just one food. If there is one thing I could say, Takasago brewery’s sake has a beautiful taste of rice and a gentle spread with the scent of yeast, so it goes well with Japanese foods like sashimi, yakitori, hot pot dishes, stewed dishes, grilled fish, and of course, prosciutto, cheese, etc. It also goes well with salads and other appetizers. 

Any specific kind of sake you’d like to recommend to someone who has never had it before? And on the contrary, any very particular one for someone that has already tried different sakes but is interested in a deeper experience?

Fuji Takasago Brewery proudly produces Yamahai Junmai Ginjou sake. Yamahai is the brewing method to use lactic acid bacteria. We recommend trying the sake brewed with lactic-acid bacteria at our brewery!

Can you please tell us more about some of the innovative other sake-based beverages you have created like Spirits, Green Tea Umeshu etc?

Fuji Takasago Brewery has a gold medal from the international wine challenge, a world famous contest, in the category of traditional sake made from natural yeast and no mashing.  

After winning the Shizuoka trophy, our method of creating traditional sake has received worldwide acclaim. Inspired by that success, we are taking on the challenge of creating innovative products to meet the current needs of brewing traditional sake. From here on, we will continue to take on the important process of brewing such sake, pursuing innovative techniques, and making new products. 

Is there anything else you’d like to add or any message for our readers?

Please enjoy the traditional sake made with natural yeast brewed with underground water from Mt. Fuji, the traditional sake from Fuji Takasago Sake Brewery at the mountain’s base, and other alcoholic products in pursuit of innovative technology.

Follow The Takasago brewery on: 

• Website: www.fuji-takasago.com
• Instagram: @fujitakasago1830
• Twitter: @fujitakasago
• Line: https://page.line.me/vmj6693d

 

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