February to March is an irresistible time of year for sake lovers.
That’s because it’s “new sake season,” when sake made with newly harvested rice in autumn—known as “new sake” or “first pressing”—is ready.
You’ll definitely want to try the fresh sake that’s only available at this time of year.
To help sake lovers enjoy new sake, many breweries hold “new sake festivals.”
The first new sake festival of 2020 in Okayama Prefecture, the Kumaya Brewery 2020 Ishichi New Sake Festival, was held on February 9.
I went along to Kumaya Brewery’s new sake festival, so here’s a report on what it was like.
In 2020, new sake festivals will be held one after another at breweries throughout Okayama Prefecture, starting with Kumaya Brewery. Use this article as a guide and be sure to visit some of the other festivals, too.
The information in this article was accurate when it was published in February 2020. Please note that it may differ from current information.
What is Kumaya Brewery? One of Kurashiki City’s oldest breweries, known for “Ishichi” and “Tomoe Fukumasamune”
The new sake festival is held on the grounds of its organizer, Kumaya Brewery.
Kumaya Brewery is known for brands such as Ishichi, Tomoe Fukumasamune, and An.
It is located in an area called Gonai, in the northern part of Kurashiki City’s Kojima district.
Gonai is about 9 kilometers southeast of JR Kurashiki Station and has flourished as a sacred site for Shugendo since ancient times.
Historic sites such as Kumano Shrine and Goryu Sonryuin Temple are still located close to Kumaya Brewery.
Kumaya Brewery was founded in this historic area in 1716, in the middle of the Edo period.
Kumaya Brewery is one of the oldest businesses in Kurashiki City.
Kumaya Brewery’s new sake festival kicks off Okayama Prefecture’s 2020 festival season
Kumaya Brewery’s new sake festival is the first new sake festival to be held at a brewery in Okayama Prefecture in 2020.
After rice is harvested in autumn, sake brewing begins using the new rice as its main ingredient, and “new sake” is ready between January and March.
There are various definitions of new sake, but sake made during this period is also called “first pressing” and is prized for its fresh, robust flavor.
Overview of the Kumaya Brewery Ishichi New Sake Festival
The Kumaya Brewery Ishichi New Sake Festival has the following highlights:
- Ishichi tasting corner
- Free amazake corner
- Festival-exclusive new sake sales corner
- Food stalls and event corner
- Prize drawing corner (no blanks)
The food stalls feature a variety of tempting options.
The Ishichi New Sake Festival is an event that people who don’t drink alcohol and children can enjoy, too.
▼Here is a map of the venue.
Take a shuttle bus from Kurashiki or Chayamachi Station to Kumaya Brewery, the festival venue
Parking at Kumaya Brewery, the new sake festival venue, is limited.
For that reason, public transportation is recommended for getting to the venue.
▼On the day of the event, shuttle buses run between JR Kurashiki Station, JR Chayamachi Station, and Kumaya Brewery.
▼I took the shuttle bus from JR Kurashiki Station.
▼The departure and arrival point is just south of Kurashiki Station West Building.
I took the first bus of the morning, but both buses were full, so I had to stand.
It really felt like a very popular event.
The bus took about 20 minutes from JR Kurashiki Station to the visitor parking lot at Goryu Sonryuin Temple, near the venue.
▼From there, it was about a three-minute walk to Kumaya Brewery, the festival venue.
Sample Kumaya Brewery’s sake at the hugely popular tasting corner
The tasting corner is, of course, the main attraction of a new sake festival!
▼As expected, there was a long line at the tasting ticket booth.
▼Here’s how the tasting system worked at Kumaya Brewery’s Ishichi New Sake Festival.
- Buy a tasting ticket at the ticket booth (a three-drink brewery-selected tasting set, consisting of three tasting tickets) for 500 yen (tax included)
- Sample three brewery-selected drinks
- Choose three drinks from a selection of seven kinds of sake and sample them
- If you want to keep tasting, buy a set of three additional tasting tickets for 100 yen (tax included) (300 yen if you don’t have the tray from your first tasting)
All the sake available for tasting is from the Ishichi brand.
▼When I bought a 500-yen tasting ticket, I received an original Ishichi ochoko sake cup as a gift.
▼The 500-yen tasting ticket set includes one three-drink brewery-selected tasting ticket and three regular tasting tickets.
▼I headed straight to the tasting area.
▼The staff were busy preparing sake for tasting one after another.
▼First, sample three cups selected by the brewery.
- Left: Junmai Daiginjo Nama Sake
- Middle: Yamada Junmai Daiginjo 55% Nama Sake
- Right: Asahi Junmai Ginjo, brewed with water from the Takahashi River headwaters, Nama Sake
▼The “Junmai Daiginjo Nama Sake” is sweet, rich, and fruity, with a clean finish.
▼The “Yamada Junmai Daiginjo 55% Nama Sake” has a sweet taste.
It seemed to have a slightly stronger aroma than the Junmai Daiginjo Nama Sake.
▼The “Asahi Junmai Ginjo, brewed with water from the Takahashi River headwaters, Nama Sake” is also on the sweet side, but seemed mellow and full-bodied.
It is also distinctive for its faint yellow tint.
▼Next, choose three of the seven varieties to sample.
- Junmai Daiginjo Nama Sake
- Yamada Junmai Daiginjo 55% Nama Sake
- Asahi Junmai Ginjo, brewed with water from the Takahashi River headwaters, Nama Sake
- Daiginjo Sake
- Kurashiki Ginjo (Junmai Ginjo Sake)
- Bizen Ishitachi (Special Junmai Sake)
- Omachi 60 Special Junmai Nama Sake
There are many technical terms, so here is a brief explanation.
| Daiginjo/Ginjo | When polishing the rice used as an ingredient, Daiginjo is made from rice with at least 50% removed (a polishing ratio of 50% or less), while Ginjo is made from rice with at least 40% removed (a polishing ratio of 60% or less). Only the parts closest to the center of the rice grain are used. |
|---|---|
| Junmai | Sake made using only water, rice, and rice koji, without adding distilled alcohol. |
| Nama Sake | Sake that has not been heat-treated (pasteurized). The yeast remains active. |
| Yamada | Refers to Yamada Nishiki, a rice variety considered ideal for sake brewing. |
| Asahi | A rice variety widely grown in Okayama Prefecture. |
| Omachi | A rice variety originating in the Omachi district of Naka Ward, Okayama City, considered ideal for sake brewing. |
Numbers 1–3 are the three brewery-selected sakes sampled first.
Since we were there, we chose three more from numbers 4–7.
▼The three sakes selected for tasting were:
- Left: 4 Daiginjo Sake
- Middle: 5 Kurashiki Ginjo (Junmai Ginjo Sake)
- Right: 7 Omachi 60 Special Junmai Nama Sake
▼The “Daiginjo Sake” has a sweet flavor but a crisp, sharp finish.
▼The “Kurashiki Ginjo (Junmai Ginjo Sake)” is not very sweet, with a clean, crisp taste that makes it easy to drink.
▼The “Omachi 60 Special Junmai Nama Sake” has a smooth, mellow flavor.
Since there was one variety we hadn’t been able to sample, we bought a set of three additional tasting tickets for 100 yen.
▼The three additional sakes we sampled were:
- Left: 4 Daiginjo Sake
- Middle: 6 Bizen Ishitachi (Special Junmai Sake)
- Right: 1 Junmai Daiginjo Nama Sake
▼The seventh and final variety, “Bizen Ishitachi (Special Junmai Sake),” has a faint sweetness and a mellow, slightly viscous mouthfeel.
We continued sampling additional servings after that.
▼There was also a tasting of a sake called “Gonai” in a location separate from the tasting area.
We had also tried this sake when we covered Washu Rakushoku Seribe in the Bikan Historical Area.
That brought the total to eight varieties and 16 cups sampled!
Comparing them makes it easy to appreciate the characteristics of each sake, and is a lot of fun.
The popular sales corner for “Kanshibori,” a sake sold exclusively at the New Sake Festival
At the Ishitachi New Sake Festival, they also sell limited-edition sake available only at the New Sake Festival.
▼The limited-edition sake is called “Kanshibori.”
▼The limited-edition sake sales corner was just as busy as the tasting area.
▼At another spot, they were also selling the seven kinds of sake served at the tasting corner.
▼There was also a sales corner for the “Gonai” brand.
Gonai is a junmai ginjo sake made with Asahi rice grown in the Gonai area, as its name suggests.
▼At the Ishi New Sake Festival, I bought two kinds: “Gonai” and the limited-edition “Kanshibori.”
▼Kanshibori
▼Gonai
There were plenty of other kinds I wanted to try, so it was quite a difficult choice.
▼Kanshibori has an elegant sweetness and a rich, full-bodied flavor.
▼Gonai is sweet and fruity.
Its mellow mouthfeel made it very easy to drink.
Lots of tempting food stalls!
There was plenty to enjoy at Kumaya Sake Brewery’s Ishi New Sake Festival besides sake.
The main attraction was the many food stalls.
Some of the main stalls at the Ishi New Sake Festival were:
- NPO Gonai Village (puffed rice snacks)
- Local Produce Market (fruit and vegetables)
- Bakery Lab Conpan (bread)
- Umakatei (deep-fried octopus and more)
- Niku no Nakayama (Chiyagyu Beef diced steak skewers)
- Garyu Tatsumi (steamed Yorishima oysters)
- Hiryu (ramen)
- Kinoshita Farm (specialty tomatoes)
- Jikkun Soba (soba)
- Lotus Root Croquettes
- Marugame Tsuboya (bone-in chicken)
- Okonomiya (Akashiyaki)
- Kura Koi (beef tendon stew, water dumplings)
- Barrel-aged narazuke
▼The Chiyagyu Beef diced steak skewers, with their mouthwatering aroma, were very popular.
▼The Yorishima oysters looked delicious, too.
▼The lotus root croquettes, made with lotus root, a Kurashiki specialty, were so popular that a line had formed.
▼They were also selling lotus root chips and burdock chips, made with burdock, another Kurashiki specialty.
▼The stall that caught my eye was “Umakatei.”
▼They mainly sold fried foods made with local fish, and everything looked delicious.
▼Umakatei is based in Mabi and reportedly sets up at various events.
▼I bought the “deep-fried baby octopus.”
▼The crispy coating and the distinctive springy texture of the bite-sized baby octopus are addictive.
▼Next up: deep-fried rockfish.
▼A whole fish, fried until crisp.
The rockfish was fried twice after we ordered it, then served to us.
▼Take a big bite, starting with the head.
It was fried twice and served piping hot, so it was crispy right down to the bones.
It was just like a rice cracker.
There were various other attractions, too.
▼Kyogoku, a comedian from Kurashiki who performs mainly in Okayama.
There was also a comedy show, but when I went, they were doing balloon art.
▼There was also a live performance by a local music duo.
Performing while drinking Kumaya Sake Brewery's sake is another special feature of the New Sake Festival.
From the Writer
The New Sake Festival is an event that sake lovers can't resist.
On the other hand, I had the impression that people who don't drink and children might find it boring.
But when I actually went, there were lots of food stalls, and it was an event that people who don't drink and children could enjoy, too!
In Reiwa 2 (2020), New Sake Festivals will be held at many breweries throughout Okayama Prefecture, starting with the one at Kumaya Sake Brewery.
The Bitchu Prefectural Citizens' Bureau at Okayama Prefectural Government is also holding the “Okayama Sake Brewery Tour Stamp Rally,” visiting New Sake Festivals held from February through April.
Why not take part in the Okayama Sake Brewery Tour Stamp Rally, too?
Reference: A Story of Touring Bitchu: Okayama Prefecture Bitchu Region Tourism Website
Kumaya Sake Brewery Reiwa 2 Ishichi New Sake Festival Information
| Name | Kumaya Sake Brewery Reiwa 2 Ishichi New Sake Festival |
|---|---|
| Date | February 9, 2020, 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. |
| Location | 705 Hayashi, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture (Kumaya Sake Brewery) |
| Admission (tax included) | ・Free admission ・Tasting ticket (6 drinks): 500 yen (tax included); additional 3 drinks: 100 yen (tax included) |
| Website | Kumaya Sake Brewery Co., Ltd. Official Facebook Page |
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