Maruishi

Maruishi Jozo is one of Japan's oldest continuously operating sake breweries, having begun brewing in 1690 in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture. Its origins go back to the Edo period, when the founder, Nagemachi Sandayu, learned about sake brewing through the traffic passing along the Tokaido highway between western Japan and Edo. He began acquiring rice and farmland specifically for sake production, establishing a brewery that would eventually become Maruishi Jozo. Over more than three centuries the business expanded into other areas including miso, soy sauce, cotton and banking, but sake brewing remained its constant thread. The brewery has survived war, economic upheaval and major changes in the Japanese sake industry, and today remains based in the same city where its story began.

Okazaki provides a strong sense of place for Maruishi's sake. The city sits in the Mikawa region of Aichi, an area shaped by its rivers, mountains and long agricultural history, and is also famous as the birthplace of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Water is particularly important to the brewery: Maruishi draws groundwater from around 20 metres underground, supplied by the Otogawa river system, producing soft water with a hardness of around 54 mg/l. Rice is sourced both from Aichi and further afield depending on the sake being made, with varieties including Yamada Nishiki and Banzai. The brewery places particular emphasis on the relationship between water, rice, brewing and storage, seeing all four as equally important to the finished sake.

The brewery's modern identity is built around combining old brewing knowledge with newer techniques rather than choosing between the two. Rice is washed and soaked with carefully controlled water absorption before being steamed, with the aim of achieving a firm exterior and soft interior. Koji is then cultivated to convert the rice starch into fermentable sugars, followed by the shubo yeast starter and a three-stage addition of rice, koji and water known as sandan jikomi. Fermentation takes place at low temperatures for around 30 days, after which the sake is pressed, bottled and stored under carefully controlled conditions. Maruishi's current philosophy also puts considerable emphasis on human judgement, with the brewery describing its approach as a fusion of more than 330 years of accumulated experience with modern technology and scientific understanding.

The brewery's best-known modern sake is Nito, whose name means "two rabbits". The concept comes from the Japanese expression that translates roughly as only someone who chases two rabbits can catch two rabbits, reflecting Maruishi's desire to pursue apparently opposing qualities at the same time. Rather than choosing between sweetness and dryness, aroma and flavour, or richness and freshness, Nito aims to find a point where both sides can exist together. It has become the brewery's most recognisable contemporary label and has helped introduce Maruishi to a new generation of sake drinkers. Alongside Nito, the brewery continues to produce Mikawa Bushi, its oldest sake brand, which has roots going back to the Edo period, as well as Tokugawa Ieyasu and Choyo.