Izumi-ryu Sake Brewery, Yahiko Shuzo

Mt. Yahiko, the famed peak of the Echigo region, with sweeping views of the Japan Sea and the Niigata Plain.

Located at its base, in a place called Izumi in the foothills, Yahiko Shuzo has received the blessings of nature and the gods, including Echigo Ichinomiya Yahiko Shrine.

Yahiko Shuzo was founded in 1838.
In 1848, the founder established his own, unique sake brewing method, known as the Izumi-ryu Sake Brewing Method.
At the time, this method was groundbreaking, resulting in sake that was “pale in color, light in taste, and of long-lasting quality.”

Over many years, we have cultivated many skilled brewers, with apprentices numbering in the hundreds. Many of those skilled brewers who trained in the Izumi-ryu method went on to become the master brewers of breweries in various parts of the countries. For this reason, Yahiko Shuzo became known as a “career-creating brewery.”

As the purveyor of sacred sake to Echigo Ichinomiya shrine, no matter how the environment surrounding Japanese sake may have changed, Yahiko Shuzo has remained unswayed by trends and has steadfastly safeguarded our own unique brewing style, named after the izumi or spring waters from which it is made, with loving care.