YAMANASHI MEIJO - YAMANASHI PRÉFECTURE

Yamanashi Meijo's brewery is located at the foot of the Japanese Alps, north of Yamanashi Prefecture on the island of Honshu. It was founded in 1750 by the descendant of a long line of brewers who were originally settled in the Nagano area. Mr. Kitahara, then the seventh generation of the family, discovered water of exceptional quality in the heart of the Hakushu locality. He decided to move there to establish his own brewery. This pure water comes from the melting snows of Mount Kai Komagatake, whose summit is over 2900m high. It feeds the region's springs after being slowly filtered through the granite rock, thus taking up minerals that are essential for the production of sake. The recognition was immediate and the good reputation of Yamanashi Meijo went beyond the limits of the locality to the point of becoming a place of visit for the Emperor Meiji who stayed there during his official visits. Since then, the majestic family home has been elevated to the rank of place of historical interest in Japan. Today, sake making is still a family affair, and the 12th generation still takes care of the details, including long, low-temperature fermentations to preserve the signature Yamanashi Meijo sake: sake that is both delicate and rich, with the remarkable quality of the spring water preserved intact.