Fujii Honke is a dignified sake brewery, founded in 1831 during the Edo period, standing alone in a rural town in Omi.The Omi region, situated east of Lake Biwa, has long been blessed with the Suzuka mountain range’s pure water and high-quality rice, making it a thriving center for sake brewing.
Fujii Honke has been brewing sake in this Omi region for approximately 200 years, using underground water originating from the Suzuka mountain range and Shiga Prefecture-grown sake rice (Sakamai).This sake brewery also presents sacred sake (Omiki) to shrines throughout Japan for the Niiname-sai festival, which celebrates the harvest.
This sake brewery sells sake under the brands Kyokujitsu , Biwa no Mai , and Toji no Mai.It also crafts a sake called Wataribune, made using the Wataribune variety of sake rice, which had once ceased production.
This sake brewery offers free tours led by the present head of brewery upon reservation (approximately 50 minutes).Unfortunately, the brewery building Miya-gura (Miya-gura sake storehouse) is not open for tours. However, the brewery complex Higashi-gura (Higashi-gura sake storehouse), designated as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property along with the main residence and study hall, is included in the tour route.
Among them, Higashi-gura has been used as a filming location for television and dramas. Additionally, the Storage House is a unique building constructed entirely of zelkova wood.Fortunately, the tour includes sampling the brewing water (Shikomi-mizu) used in the sake-making process and tasting the sake itself.Sake brewed at the brewery is the best. If you plan to sample it, please be sure to take the train.To Fujii Honke, it’s about a 5-minute taxi ride from JR Biwako Line’s JR Inae Station.
Fujii Honke
https://fujiihonke.jp (Japanese only)
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