Higashiyama Shuzo is located in southern Kyoto city. "Shuzo" (酒造) means "brewing" in Japanese. The master brewer is Mr. Yasuo Hosaka, who is Nanbu Toji (one of the three major schools in sake making). He has more than 40 years experience in making sake. He and his sake making team respect the traditional style of sake brewing. There are four brands in Higashiyama Shuzo. Holistically, the taste of our sake is very classical and authentic.
Each rice variety has its own flavor characeristic, and we try to bring that out in our products. For example, we use the specially cultivated Yamadanishiki rice from Tottori prefecture for Konteki. Also, we use Iwai rice from Kyoto prefecture for Rosanjin. Those are very helpful to establish the differences among the brands. The color of our sake is not transparent, but light bright yellow because we filter our sake gently to maintain the original sake flavor.
Fushimi is a famous region for sake brewing. The reason is that pure spring water has been available historically. The spring water here is called “Fushimizu”, the origin of which is known as the first selection of the Select Best Water of Japan. It is medium hard water, which contains Potassium and Calcium in good balance. 80% of sake is water, so Fushimizu is a very important ingredient for our sake!
Rice is the blessing and gift from the Earth. For Konteki, we use the specially cultivated Yamadanishiki rice, which is grown by Mr. Masayasu Tanaka in Tottori prefecture. The taste of Konteki is rich and aromatic because of this special rice. This is the flagship brand of Higashiyama Shuzo.
This sake is made from Iwai rice, which is prestige sake rice in Kyoto. Both Rice and Water, all ingredients come from Kyoto. Rosanjin is named after the very famous Japanese artist Kitaooji Rosanjin. He is also well-known as a gourmet. We feel a strong obligation to live up to its name!
This sake is made from Yamadanishiki rice, which comes from the famous Kunisada Farm in Okayama prefecture. The Kunisada Farm uses as little pesticides and commercial fertilizers as possible when they grow their crops. Compared with Konteki, the taste of Rikugen is softer and cleaner. It is food-friendly, and goes well with any kind of Japanese cuisine.
This sake is made from Omachi rice, which comes from Okayama prefecture. Okayama prefecture is renowned as a region for growing high quality Omachi. This rice is also grown with minimum pesticides and commercial fertilizers. Rakuden is brewed in lower temperature to extract rich and complex flavor of Omachi.