Yahiko Brewing Company

This Niigata prefecture brewery employs what they call the “izumiryu” brewing method, named after the soft spring waters (“izumi”) safeguarded at the foot of Mount Yahiko. This famed peak and its sacred forest are described in the “Manyoshu,” the oldest collection of Japanese poetry. This area is home to Echigo Ichinomiya Shrine, also known as Yahiko Shrine, for which the brewery provides sacred sake. Since 1838, they’ve trained hundreds of apprentice brewers who have gone on to become “toji” (brewmasters) elsewhere. Yahiko Brewing Company crafts sake varieties of ginjo grade and above, creating clean sake as pure as snow.