Sake from Shimane

What water and rice does Shimane use?

Clear streams run down from the Chugoku mountains, and many breweries use spring or well water. Much of it is soft, which gives the sake a fine texture and an easy mouthfeel. Shimane is also known for eating rice such as Nita rice, and sake rice is grown too. Breweries in Tsuwano mainly use the local variety Sakanishiki.

What is distinctive about the brewers and yeast?

For a long time the Izumo toji of the east and the Iwami toji of the west have brewed the prefecture's sake. In Okuizumo, Hikami Seishu is known as the source of the foam-free yeast, and it keeps trying new methods.

What does Shimane sake taste like?

A soft mouthfeel and a fine texture are the shared themes. Breweries describe different styles: soft flavour with the rich savoury depth of the Izumo style, sake that shows the taste of the rice, and handmade sake pressed in wooden vats. Not every bottle is alike, so read the brewery's notes too.

A short history of Shimane sake

In the Kojiki, Susanoo gets the giant serpent Yamata no Orochi drunk on strong sake. The Izumo Fudoki, compiled about 1,300 years ago, says the gods gathered here to brew sake and feasted for 180 days. The place said to be that site is Saka Shrine in Izumo, which honours Kusunokami, the god of brewing. At its festival on 13 October, cloudy sake brewed within the shrine grounds is offered.

Where are the breweries?

The prefecture's tourism site groups breweries into six areas: Matsue and Yasugi; Unnan, Okuizumo and Iinan; Izumo; Ota and Onan; Hamada, Masuda and Tsuwano; and the Oki Islands. Tsuwano, the "little Kyoto of San'in", is known for brewing with the clean Takatsu river water and cold winters.

Visiting and what to eat with it

Some breweries need a reservation for tours, some offer tasting only, and some are closed to visitors, so check each official site. In Tsuwano, Furuhashi Shuzo lets visitors watch the rice steaming early in the morning on certain days from December to February. Local dishes such as Lake Shinji clams and Izumo soba go well with a soft sake.