MANOTSURU
〜Brewing happiness together with the nature and climate of Sado Island〜
OBATA Sake Brewery was founded by Yososaku OBATA in 1892 in the former Mano town of Sado Island, and for more than 128 years We have been brewing traditional handcrafted sake.
The motto of OBATA shuzo is to brew sake by harmonizing the “Four Treasures”.
The 3 elements that are commonly held to be crucial in sake brewing are "Rice", "Water" and "People(brewers)". In addition to those three, we take into account the importance of "Sado Island". Moreover, OBATA family crest has "The Four Diamonds", which stays true to the motto in holding these principles. We aim to produce a good balanced sake, using all those elements efficiently.
Sustainable sake brewing on an Island where “Toki” flies.
Sado Island is rich in history, nature and cultural diversity and is said to be the epitome of Japan.
An endangered species of “Toki” inhabits the island, and we are working on eco-friendly agriculture including rice. Farmers has cultivated it in accordance with the Sado City's Certificate of “Toki-friendly fields rice" to preserve this environment.
We mainly use “Gohyakumangoku" made by Sado Island, and Niigata prefecture's special sake-rice "Koshitanrei". We also started using Dragon’s rice terrace Koshihikari since 2020.
The water is soft and extremely pure. It springs out at the foot of natural filtration after thawed water from two mountain ranges north and south of the island is soaked deep into the ground. Its quality is perfect for brewing a light and soft sake.
A small brewery’s Handcrafted sake has received honors around the world
The current Brew master “Toji” of Manotsuru sake, is Kenya Kudo(born in 1971) who was apprenticed under a famed “Toji” Maho Matsui. The brewers continue to preserve the traditional "Hand-made", such as practicing the early morning preparation by staying at the brewery overnight.
At the same time, the brewers integrate the traditional method with the new technique to bring out the best quality. OBATA shuzo always strives to improve MANOTSURU to deliver more satisfaction.
Due to these belief and efforts, Manotsuru has won gold medals at numerous competitions such as The National New Sake Awards (Japan), International Wine Challenge (UK), Kura Master (France) and Milano Sake Challenge (Italy).
Recent awards
- The National New Sake Awards 2019(The biggest and the most prestigious competition in Japan) :Gold Medal
- International Wine Challenge 2019(UK) :Gold Medal
- Kura Master 2019(France) :Gold Medal
- Milano Sake Challenge 2019(Italy) :Gold Medal
We started overseas exports in 2003, and now we are exporting to 15 countries including the United States, Hong Kong and Singapore, and are also served in Air France First Class.
“GAKKOGURA 〜School brewery〜” Project
“GAKKOGURA 〜School brewery〜” used to be an elementary school which stablished on the hill and has the view of the most beautiful sunset in Japan, but ceased operation in 2010 due to the declining population. In 2010, we decided to renovate it to be our 2nd brewery and we have been conducting sake making there since 2014.
The motto of Gakkogura is to brew sake with ingredients produced on Sado Island. In addition to sake-rice, solar panels are installed to bring sustainable energy for sake brewing.
We are also continuing activities that utilize the place of school, such as the “Sake Making Experience Program” for a week and the “GAKKOGURA’s Special Class” which is a one-day workshop for thinking about the future of the region and Japan.
Our principle
Just like a school, we have our own values. It’s 幸醸心（Ko-Jo-Shin）, meaning brew happiness by brewing sake. We hope the experience of drinking our sake will be something like drinking a glass of happiness.