Nurtured with Quiet Grace — from the Kura’s memory

Presence

Founded in 1863 in Takehara, Hiroshima, Japan,
Fujii Shuzo is the brewery behind Ryusei sake.

This place has a long history.
Seasons have come and gone, and generations of people have lived and worked on this land.

Our approach to brewing is Ambient Fermentation.
We draw on the activity of the microorganisms living in the kura to brew sake with a taste particular to this land and this brewery.

Land Takehara

A quiet town between the Seto Inland Sea and the mountains.

For brewing, we use groundwater that rises through layers of granite.

The Setouchi region has a mild climate with little rain.
A breeze carrying salt from the sea passes through the kura.

The character of this land finds its way into the sake through the brewery’s environment.

Kura The Brewery

Beams, earthen walls, wooden vats.

The kura is home to microorganisms we cannot see:
yeasts, lactic acid bacteria, and others whose roles we do not yet understand.

The members of this community gradually change, as do their relationships from year to year.

We place this at the heart of our brewing:
the life within the kura and the work of its people, continuing together.

Days

Washing. Steaming. Mixing.
We repeat the same steps each day.

We listen to the sounds, check the aromas, and compare what we notice with our records.

When fermentation looks likely to go too far, we adjust.
When it needs more time, we wait.

We make these decisions day after day.

Emergence Sake Takes Form

Rice and water become sake over time, through the work of microorganisms and the decisions people make.

Each year’s rice, the seasons, and the brewery environment bring subtle changes to the taste.

Even in the same kura, the sake is never exactly the same from year to year.
We bottle what that year has brought.