Oasa, Hiroshima Ken
A historical brewery since 1933 in northern Hiroshima revived by the founder's great-grandson!
Through a friend's recommendation, we had an opportunity to visit here in August, 2022. Welcomed by Mr. Fukumitsu, president and the owner of the 4th generation of this brewry, he showed us all around his premise including the shop, a bar-type dining area, public space with a large screen and swings for children, a neat Japanese garden, brewery & tools in the working space, followed by a short drive to his blueberry field.
He has been renovating the entire building into a wonderful, tasteful, entertaining space on his own with the help of local people and friends. He is very energetic about activating the local area and connecting people. Eventually he is planning to add an accommodation facility.
Thank you, Fukumitsu san, for your hospiltality. We are very much impressed with your hard work and the wonderful brewery. We fully enjoyed your rich flavored 'doburoku' after we went back home. We would like to come back and enjoy Kagura and explore the town of Oasa as well.
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
From the website ↓
Greetings:
Thanks to the support and corporation of many people, Fukumitsu Sake Brewery revived on April 27, 2019, after the 13 years of dormancy. We are happy to be able to release our doburoku, “Asahikari” and “Oni Kikkawa.” In 2020, however, we had to face a wall due to the pandemic of COVID 19. In order to bear up under the difficult situation, we have been taking on various challenges such as crowd-funding. Thank you very much for those who have kindly supported us by purchasing our products! This year, we are brewing 2 types of Junmai-Ginjo style doburoku using different kinds of yeasts. (“Junmai” means pure rice, and “Ginjo” means that the rice used for brewing is polished more than 40%.) We are also brewing doburoku using Kimoto method, a traditional brewing method used for over 400 years. Please look forward to the release of our upgraded Asahikari!
My name is Hiroyasu Fukumitsu, the fourth brewer of Fukumitsu Sake Brewery. Our storehouse is located in Oasa, Kitahiroshima Town, 40 km north of Hiroshima City. The altitude is high on the prefectural border with Shimane prefecture, and there are four ski resorts in the town. It is one of the leading rice fields in the prefecture, and is blessed with good water, so you can enjoy delicious sake for a long time. It started with the cultivation of rice and grapes, which are the raw materials for sake, and was finally completed with the support of many wonderful friends, such as brewing doburoku and wine, bottling, and labeling. Since I am the only employee, I think there are many points that cannot be reached, but I will do my best to revitalize the sake brewery and the region. Thank you for your patronage.
President
Hiroyasu Fukuitsu
History of Fukumitsu Sake Brewery:
Fukumitsu Sake Brewery Co., Ltd. inherited the Takasugi bar, which was founded in 1873, in 1933, and has been brewing sake at the same place. Mainly sold in the old Oasa town, the local sake "Asahikari" was indispensable for festivals, ceremonial occasions, and famous kagura.
In the spring of 2006, the third generation, who was also Mr. Mori Kuramoto, collapsed due to illness, ending the 73-year history. At the same time, I returned the sake brewing license to the country.
Nine years later, in 2015, Hiroyasu Fukumitsu, the great-grandson of the founder of Fukumitsu Sake Brewery, left Murashige Sake Brewery Co., Ltd. in Iwakuni City and became the fourth brewery of Fukumitsu Sake Brewery Co., Ltd. Then, with the help of local colleagues and local university students, we will start cleaning the desolate sake brewery that has been left unattended for nine years. We will repair and renovate the brewery and start acquiring a new brewing license.
Obtaining a sake brewing license for sake is a high hurdle, so I gave up. We decided to make "Doburoku" and "Wine" with the special zone license that the town had, and immediately started viticulture in the town. On April 27, 2019, Fukumitsu Sake Brewery was revived for the first time in 13 years after a four-year preparation period.
Address | Oasa 2441-1, Kitahiroshima cho, Yamagata gun, Hiroshima Ken |
Phone | 090-7129-2767 |
Homepage | https://www.asahikari.info/ (with online shop) |
Town of Oasa |
Comments