Taste the finest sake Japan has to offer in Saitama, only a stone’s throw away from Tokyo.

Taste the finest sake Japan has to offer in Saitama, only a stone’s throw away from Tokyo.

Matsuoka Shuzo, founded in 1851, is known for the Mikadomatsu brand which has won gold an impressive eight consecutive years at the National Sake Awards. It draws water from the nearby Chichibu Mountains, where a limestone layer produces water that is mineral-rich yet feels soft. Visitors can reserve a tour of the facilities with tasting available. Give yourself time to look around the shop in a renovated old rice mill and maybe even try soft-serve ice cream made with daiginjo, which is among the highest-quality sake made.

Sample 170 years of history at Gonda Shuzo, the only brewery in Kumagaya. As well as using Saitama’s very own Sake-Musashi rice, the brewery employs a traditional method of sake extraction called funagake, allowing sake in the fermented rice mixture to drip from fabric bags to preserve its delicate, fresh flavor. Incredibly, this can take a couple of days to separate one tank of sake! You can buy their sake directly on site.

Close to the scenic Nagatoro’s scenic river, Nagatorogura has nearly 300 years of history and also uses local rice to produce their brews, like their junmai daiginjo, which won a gold prize at The Fine SAKE Award, Japan, or their junmai gingo, which won a gold prize at the Kura Master event in Paris. You can try these for yourself at the store, where you can also buy local crafts, and peek into the facilities to see how sake is made.

Saitama Sake

Saitama Sake

At around two hours from Tokyo, with easy connections from Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, or Tokyo stations, Saitama’s sake breweries offer an easy day trip and a delicious doorway into the national drink.

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