Sake from Chiba

How do water and climate shape Chiba sake?

In the Kururi area of Kimitsu are artesian wells that are the only ones in Chiba chosen for the "Heisei famous waters" list, and several breweries still stand there. Rice from the Kanto plain and easy shipping to Edo lie behind the growth of brewing here.

What is Sonomai?

This sake rice is grown only within the prefecture. Chiba Prefecture says sake brewed with it is said to have a distinctive aroma, a full taste and a moderate crispness.

What does Chiba sake taste like?

The Boso peninsula is wide, and the Chiba Sake Brewers Association divides its members into six areas: Hokuso, Suigo, Choshi, Kujukuri, Kazusa and Nanso. There is no single prefecture-wide taste and each brewery works differently. To look for the style the prefecture describes, try bottles made with Sonomai.

A short history of Chiba sake

The association says one brewery is said to have started in the Kan'ei era (1624 to 1643) and three in the Genroku era (1688 to 1703). For about a hundred years after that no new ones appeared, until numbers rose sharply from 1854. Rice and sake travelled to Edo on the Tone and Edo rivers, and rich merchants who dealt in sake and grain emerged in the north. Breweries numbered 237 in 1900, 124 in 1935 and 66 in 1945. Today the association has a little over thirty members.

Where are the breweries?

Breweries are found in the water towns of Sawara and Kanzaki on the Tone, in Choshi (also known for soy sauce), on the Kujukuri coast, in Kazusa including Kururi, and in the south, for example at Ichinomiya. Terada Honke in Kanzaki is one example.

Visiting and what to eat with it

At the Chiba Sake Brewers' Hall in Chiba City, the "Chiba Jizake Shop" sells local sake by the single bottle. Tours and tastings depend on each brewery, so check their official sites. Chiba is also a producer of soy sauce and mirin, and sake goes well with Boso seafood and sweet-savoury Edo-style flavours.