Miyasaka Jozo (宮坂醸造株式会社)
Miyasaka Jozo is a brewery in Nagano Prefecture, founded in 1662, known for Masumi. Miyasaka Jozo is a brewery in Suwa, Nagano, founded in 1662 and maker of Masumi. It is the brewery where the Kyokai No. 7 yeast was first isolated, and it also produces shochu and liqueurs. KIKI lists 3 of its bottles.
AI-compiled from public information, not checked by the brewery.
Key facts
| Name | Miyasaka Jozo (宮坂醸造株式会社) |
|---|---|
| Location | Nagano Prefecture |
| Founded | 1662 |
| Makes | Sake and Shochu |
| Website | www.masumi.co.jp |
What kind of brewery is it?
History
The Miyasaka family served the Suwa clan before turning to brewing in 1662. The name Masumi comes from the Masumi Mirror, a treasure of the upper shrine of Suwa Taisha. In 1946 a yeast taken from Masumi's Suwa brewery was named Kyokai No. 7 and later spread to breweries across Japan. The Fujimi brewery, built at 960 metres in 1982, works alongside the original Suwa brewery. Since 2019 the company has concentrated on its own No. 7 line yeast, returning to sake meant for the table.
What makes it distinct
| Water | The Suwa brewery uses groundwater from the Kirigamine area (hardness 3.0 to 3.5); the Fujimi brewery uses Southern Alps groundwater (hardness 4.5). |
|---|---|
| Ingredients | About 80 percent of the rice is from Nagano (Miyama Nishiki, Hitogokochi and others) and about 20 percent from Hyogo (Yamada Nishiki, Aiyama). All rice is polished in-house at Fujimi. |
| Yeast | Descended from Kyokai No. 7, isolated at Masumi in 1946; since 2019 only its own No. 7 line strains. |
| Master brewer | The head toji is Kenji Nasu, according to the official site. |
Visiting
The brewery shop Cella Masumi in Suwa is open 10:00 to 17:00, closed Wednesdays and 1 January. Paid tasting is 700 yen (last entry 16:30). Tours are not mentioned on the official site.
- Shop
Bottles from this brewery
The KIKI app knows 25 bottles from this maker (3 on this site).
| Bottle | Type | Per 720 ml |
|---|---|---|
| Masumi Karakuchi Ki-ippon Junmai Ginjo真澄 辛口生一本 純米吟醸 | Junmai Ginjo | ¥1,268 |
| Masumi Ginsen Classic Sake真澄 銀撰 | Futsushu | ¥924 |
| Masumi Okuden Kanzukuri Junmai真澄 純米 奥伝寒造り | Junmai | ¥1,181 |