Miyagi, JR Yubikan Station
By reservation, you can visit the brewery and the neighboring Showa Retro Hall, a nationally registered tangible cultural property. You can see an early-Showa building with everyday items of the period, and the traditional brewery. Sake can also be bought on site.
Visit the wooden shop, kettle room and brewhouse of this brewery founded in 1883, still used as they were. Tours are available by reservation, except during the brewing season.
Museum
¥300per person
A wooden two-story house built in 1935 displays everyday items such as black-and-white TVs and hibachi braziers, kept in their original atmosphere.
Sells Moriizumi junmai sake, the nama-genshu "Shibottamanma" and long-aged junmai koshu.
Moritami Shuzoten is a sake brewery in Iwadeyama, Osaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, founded in 1883 (Meiji 16). It still brews in its original brewhouse, using only water from its own well. The soft, low-iron water gives a light, gentle, slightly sweet sake. Its flagship brand is Moriizumi (森泉). Brewery visits are available by reservation, except during the brewing season, together with the neighboring Showa Retro Hall.
Brewery profile, brands and bottles (1 brand, 8 bottles)
Sources: tohokukanko.jp/sozaishu/detail_1004352.ht…, travel.yahoo.co.jp/kanko/spot-00011161, rurubu.jp/andmore/spot/80003664, gazoo.com/drive/spotsearch/dc/detail
You can tour the brewery while hearing about its sake making, history and philosophy. The Kyakuzashiki guest hall (a registered cultural property) and the Uomachi shop in Kesennuma's inner bay area offer tasting sales and a free gallery.
This brewery is known for brewing with purified water. Tours are possible if you call ahead, and the on-site shop sells Yoimai sake and liqueurs.
At the main brewery you watch a DVD on sake making, view the production areas through windows from a gallery, and taste sake. The Matsuyama Sake Museum, about 3 minutes away by car, displays sake-making tools and fermentation culture, and the adjacent shop offers local products and meals.
You are guided through the actual production area to learn how this junmai-only brewery makes sake. A course with tasting of your choice of sake, including the flagship Miyakanbai (宮寒梅), is also available.
This brewery in Taiwa Town, Miyagi offers brewery tours on weekdays if you contact them in advance.
