Breakfasting with the Brewers: A Visit to the Masuichi-Ichimura Sake Brewery

The kurabito are up before dawn to begin their long day with a meal together. 

The sake-making season in northern Nagano extends from November to March.

It takes years of dedication to master the craft of sake brewing. Masuichi-Ichimura Sake Brewery is one of the few Japanese breweries that takes on women and non-Japanese kurabito eager to learn the trade.

After a light breakfast, workers partake of heartier lunchtime and dinnertime fare prepared by the staff of the Obusedō Restaurant, located on the grounds of the brewery. Today’s noontime meal features pork sauteed in ginger sauce, tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelette), blanched greens in soy sauce, pickles, and piping hot sake-lees soup with pork and vegetables.

Kurabito approach their meals with the same single-minded focus they apply to their work.

Dinner, not surprisingly, is accompanied by sake. Veteran kurabito Takizawa Zenji pours for tōji Ichikawa Naomichi. Dinnertime ends at 6:00 sharp, at which point the crew begins preparing for the following day’s operations, guided by the elaborate work schedule posted on the wall.

The entrance to Masuichi Honten, the brewery’s sake store

The Japanese-style building was designed by the American architect John Morford.

The store’s striking interior beckons shoppers and tasters.

A large wooden barrel (oke) of the kind traditionally used for brewing sake holds the place of honor in the entranceway to Masuichi Honten.

Inside the store, shoppers can sample the brewery’s wares at Teppa, the tasting bar.

Square One, the brewery’s junmai-shu, is named for the smart Masuichi logo: a square symbolizing a masu (wooden sake vessel) followed by the character for ichi, meaning “one.” The stylish ceramic bottles are an updated version of the refillable sake jars familiar to Japanese antique collectors.