【Takashimizu History ~ Sake Brewing of Akita in Edo Period ~】

Takashimizu sake has been loved by a lot of customers since the olden days. Its history began in 1944 after merging of 12 small breweries on the ground of the act for industrial adjustment during World War Ⅱ. All 12 small breweries have their own historical stories and the longest history dates back to Edo period (1603-1867). In this column, we will introduce these historical stories of 12 breweries which are the foundation of current Takashimizu one by one. The theme of the first article is sake brewing of Akita prefecture in Edo period.

Akita prefecture is famous for good rice and sake producing prefecture and described as “Sake country with excellent rice”. According to the verbal note which Akita Domain submitted to Tokugawa Shogunate (Japanese feudal government headed by Shogun) in Edo period, Akita was expressed that “In addition to producing good quality rice as main ingredient of sake, people of the domain drink sake a lot to keep off the cold”. At the same time, for Akita Domain, sake industry was financially important because of its enormous tax revenue. There remains a historical record in which the Domain invited the sake directors from advanced famous brewing districts for development of sake brewing industry and human resources. Like this, Akita had a foundation to develop sake brewing. Under such circumstances, the history of 12 breweries began…

Next, we will introduce the oldest brewery of 12 breweries.