Sake brewery visit: Kiyama Shoten in Saga prefecture

We visited Kiyama Shoten sake brewery in Saga Prefecture.

Kiyama Shoten is a small sake brewery located in Kiyama Town, Miyaki District, Saga Prefecture.

Its history dates back to the early Meiji period, when several neighboring landowners started brewing sake together.
Currently, it is a family-run business, mainly run by siblings, and although the annual production is small at about 300 koku, they brew delicious sake in a natural environment by utilizing the underground waters of Mount Kusenbe and Mount Kiyama in the Sefuri mountain range.

On the day, we were guided by the younger brother, the master brewer Kenichiro Komori.

After graduating from the Department of Brewing Science at Tokyo University of Agriculture, he worked at Umenoyado Sake Brewery Co., Ltd. before joining Kiyama Shoten in 2002. He took over from the previous master brewer in 2015 and is responsible for all production.

He is very passionate about sake brewing and said that he want to continue making high-quality sake at this small sake brewery.

The representative brand, “Kihotsuru," has received high praise, including winning a gold medal in the Daiginjo and Ginjo categories at the IWC (International Wine Challenge) held in the UK in 2015. In addition, in 2017, the brewery won a platinum award in the Junmai Daiginjo category at the Japanese Sake Competition held in France.

Thank you very much for the good times!