Japan’s big cities like Tokyo or Osaka should not be unfamiliar with you. But how about other areas like Nagano Prefecture? In fact, Nagano Prefecture is the area with the highest altitude in Japan. With the average elevation reaching 1,000 m, the water is beautiful, the diurnal temperature variation is huge and the winter is cold, so it provides an ideal environment for agriculture. Its rice production even tops the whole Japan. With these conditions, many outstanding sake breweries are established here, including Senjo Brewery. Despite having a history of over 150 years, Senjo is still thriving and liked by many young sake lovers. But why? It is all about its philosophy.
Situated in Ina City, southern Nagano Prefecture, Senjo was founded by Matsujiro Kurokouchi in 1866. With such a long history, the construction and interior design of the brewery are not only beautiful, but classic. Throughout the years, they have been striving to produce a sake that can represent Nagano, so all products of their brands, “Kuromatsu Senjo” and “On a night like…”, are made of the local rice that they purchase from the contracted farmers with the polishing process executed by themselves.
Just because they persist in their own philosophy of sake brewing does not mean they do not look for changes. In the past, all procedures of sake production including fermentation and pressing were done by hand, but with the technology improving, many of these steps are now carried out by machine so that the quality of sake become better. However, to show gratitude to customers, the labeling is still done by hand.
The motto of Senjo is “Delicious sake is art whilst sake making is science”. Besides techniques, concept and presentation are what they emphasize, so they have produced a lot of delicious, yet interesting sakes. For instance, “Prototype Junmai Daiginjo”, whose sake meter value is as low as minus 14, actually took 4 years to create and finalize. But the effort is worth it because its unusual fruitiness and sweetness together with its stylish pinkish label have stunned many sake fans. The series “On a night like this…” has also attracted a lot of young drinkers because of its playful and cute concept that all indigenous animals of Nagano gather to watch moon and drink sake.
