Disseminating the appeal of Japanese sake.

Crafting Unfiltered Unpasteurized Undiluted Sake: A Market-Driven Approach

While Osaka is often associated with bustling urban centers, the Kitakawachi region is a lush, green area. Located on the eastern edge of Osaka Prefecture, the gentle hills stretching approximately 30 kilometers north to south form the Ikoma Mountain Range, a natural boundary between Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto. During the Heian period, this area, known as Katano no Hara, served as a royal hunting ground and a renowned spot for cherry blossoms. In this historic setting of Katano City, Yamano Shuzo brews sake, with its flagship brand Katanosakura. On an early spring morning, as the steam from rice steaming filled the air, fifth-generation brewery president Hisayuki Yamano and his son, managing director Masahiro Yamano, welcomed us with warm and cheerful smiles.
Yamano Shuzo has earned a reputation for its kimoto-style fermentation, particularly yamahai, yet it strives to offer a versatile lineup of sake, from sweet to dry, fresh to aged. At its core, Katanosakura aims to deliver sake with “a rich, umami-filled taste that is clean and free of off-flavors.” While yamahai remains a key focus, it is not brewed merely for tradition’s sake. The choice of yamahai stems from its ability to produce complex flavors with pronounced lactic and amino acids. Each sake in the lineup is crafted with meticulous consideration, such as pairing Yamadanishiki rice with aromatic Kyokai Yeast No. 9, and Omachi rice with Kyokai Yeast No. 6. The brewery’s market-oriented approach is evident. While not opposed to adding alcohol, Hisayuki explains, “Since more consumers are seeking junmai sake, 75% of our production is now junmai.”
About 90% of the brewery’s total output is tokutei meisho-shu (special designation sake), with muroka-nama-genshu (unfiltered, unpasteurized, undiluted sake) accounting for 30%. Hisayuki emphasizes, “Sake is at its peak the moment it is pressed. We want consumers to enjoy it in its purest, freshly brewed state.”
The brewery uses soft water drawn from a shallow well only 8 meters deep. Interestingly, since the June 2018 Osaka Earthquake, both hard and soft water have begun flowing on the property. “It was quite a surprise,” Hisayuki remarks. Using hard water for yeasts like Kyokai Yeast No. 1801, which can be slow to activate, has helped stabilize the brewing process. This adaptability is a testament to the brewery’s flexibility in harnessing even unexpected events to diversify its offerings.
Yamano Shuzo also embraces innovation. In collaboration with Onkyo Corporation, they developed sake aged using music vibrations. This technique not only exposes the mash to music but also utilizes the vibrations to influence the flavor profile. “It definitely makes a difference,” Hisayuki affirms.
The brewery remains deeply connected to the local community. One example is Kurawanka Junmai Usunigori, brewed with Hinohikari rice from Katano City. The sake is named after the Kurawanka boats, which sold food and drink to passengers on the Yodo River during the Edo period. This sake revives the trademark of the defunct Tsuda Shuzo in collaboration with the Yodo River Brand Promotion Council and was officially launched in 2018 through crowdfunding. Today, it has become a beloved local specialty.

▲The primary rice used is Yamadanishiki from Hyogo, along with Omachi from Okayama, Gohyakumangoku from Fukui, and Aiyama from Hyogo. Additionally, under the concept of “All-Katano Sake Brewing,” Yamadanishiki and Hinohikari table rice produced in Katano City are also utilized.

▲The entire view of the brewery. After being damaged in the 2018 Osaka Earthquake, the 16-meter chimney was cut down for safety reasons. Subsequently, at the suggestion of an architect who felt it would be a shame to lose it entirely, the chimney was repurposed into a spiral staircase.

A Fortunate Turning Point After Years of Trial and Error

The Yamano family originally brewed sake in Kaizuka City during the Edo period but moved to Katano in the early Meiji era. For many years, they were regarded as newcomers in the community.
Hisayuki, born in 1955, grew up with his father’s often-repeated phrase, “You can quit sake brewing anytime you want.” There was no pressure to take over the family business, yet Hisayuki developed a deep attachment to the craft. After graduating from Doshisha University’s Faculty of Commerce, he studied the fundamentals and techniques of sake brewing at the former National Research Institute of Brewing in Takinogawa. He later gained experience in sake distribution and sales while working for a sake wholesaler in Shiga Prefecture before returning to Yamano Shuzo at the age of 25.
During Japan’s rapid economic growth, Kitakawachi became increasingly industrialized, with significant investments in large-scale facilities and a substantial blue-collar workforce. “At the standing soba restaurant in Furukawabashi Station on the Keihan Line, 1.8-liter bottles of table sake sold at a rate of 50 per month, and popular standing bars sold 700 bottles monthly,” Hisayuki recalls. However, following the oil shock, the region felt the effects of declining demand for sake. Faced with this challenge, Hisayuki decided to shift toward producing and selling high-quality, value-added sake.
This transition, however, was not without difficulty. The biggest hurdle was the brewery’s relationship with its brewmaster and workers. At the time, many were resistant to change, clinging to their past successes and showing little interest in new techniques. After multiple changes in leadership, light began to shine on their quest for quality improvement when Seishi Asanuma, a brewmaster trained in the Nanbu Toji guild, took the helm. His willingness to listen to the brewery’s requests and seek guidance when needed earned Hisayuki’s trust. “I was confident then that we could brew excellent sake,” he says.
In 1995, the same year as the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, a new Keihan Department Store opened in Hirakata. The sake tasting and sales event held during the opening was a tremendous success. “The wholesalers were astonished by how much we sold,” Hisayuki recalls. This marked a turning point, solidifying their strategy of brewing high-quality sake for urban consumers. Core products like Katanosakura’s muroka-nama-genshu and yamahai junmai emerged from this period of innovation. By experimenting with different sake rice varieties, altering koji and yeast starters, and releasing various new sake styles, Yamano Shuzo found success with a sales strategy focused on department stores. However, in recent years, the broad expansion of their lineup began to create a sense of ambiguity about the brewery’s direction. Amid these circumstances, Hisayuki started feeling a strong desire to pass on the sake brewing legacy he had worked so hard to build to the next generation. This shift in perspective occurred around 2017. Among his three sons, it was the eldest, Masahiro, who expressed his intention to continue the family’s sake brewing tradition.

▲From the brewery, you can see the three mountains of Katano, located at the northern end of the Ikoma mountain range. To the right is Mt. Hatafuri, which historically signaled rice market prices to Osaka’s Semba district using flags. The area is also a source of high-quality surface water. In the foreground, the Daini Keihan road extends toward Osaka.

▲In front of Yamano Shuzo lies their own rice field, where pesticide-free Yamadanishiki is cultivated, a portion of which is used for the “Furuna junmai daiginjo”. In spring, the fields are covered with blooming lotus flowers, creating a pastoral and idyllic landscape.