Uehara Shuzo

Mountains clad in fresh, unfarmed greenery and fertile plains surround Shiga, which lies north and west of Kyoto and Nara. It is one of Japan’s few inland prefectures, as only 8 of Japan’s 47 prefectures are not bordered in some way by ocean or sea. Shiga, however, contains Lake Biwa—the largest lake in Japan, which accounts for 1/6th of Shiga’s total land. Uehara Shuzo was founded in 1862 and is located near the shores of Lake Biwa. 7th-Generation brewer Isao Uehara currently runs the brewery, which still uses a traditional brewing process with wooden presses and fermentation vats. Uehara uses a pressing technique seldom seen in Japan called ‘Tenbin Shibori,’ where a wooden press is squeezed by large rocks attached to a long pole that slowly presses the sake through as gravity pulls the rocks downward. The 7th-Generation family brewers are also proud to have revived the tradition of using wooden barrels for some of their sakes. All of the rice used at Uehara Brewery is locally grown and contracted to local farmers committed to sustainable farming practices. The brewery uses over 30 strains of sake rice to produce its unique sake; much of the production is done without the addition of cultivated yeasts.