Yamagata Honten has been producing handcrafted sake on the southern tip of Japan’s main island since 1875. The historic brewery began in the 8th year of the Meiji Restoration. This period marks the end of the shogunate (military rule) and a return to the Emperor as supreme ruler. It also was a period that saw an incredible rise in new sake breweries.
Yamagata Honten maintains a passion for the local ecology by only using locally-grown rice from the Yamaguchi prefecture. Notably, they use locally grown yamadanishiki rice to craft their “Kaori” sake, the flagship Junmai-Ginjo grade sake in production since 1984. Yamadanishiki is a very popular sake-specific rice varietal. Its large, pure starchy center and low amounts of fats and proteins make it well suited for sake production. In addition to locally sourced rice, a portion of the brewery’s earnings are donated to the preservation of the Hooded Crane, the official bird of the Yamaguchi prefecture.
Yamagata Honten puts a focus on crafting ginjo-grade sakes that exhibit a sublime balance which showcases textbook fruity and floral notes on the nose and palate. The team of seven brewers work as artisans to create sake that embodies their motto: “If you drink sake wholeheartedly, you can conquer the world”.