Izumibashi Sake Brewery is one of the Kanto region’s best, and it’s located right in Yokohama’s backyard, just a 20 to 30-minute walk from Ebina Station. If you haven’t been before, there’s even more reason to pay a visit now. They’ve just added a beautiful new tasting room to their attractive facilities.
The family-owned brewery was founded in 1857. It’s currently run by sixth-generation president Yuichi Hashiba, though his daughter Haruna is quite active in the business as well. The brewery’s sake is easy to recognize on shelves of local retailers, as it features an iconic dragonfly logo. This fascinating insect is like a spirit creature to the family, in particular the akatombo, the bright red variety that appears above rice fields, helping to clear them of pests before harvest.
The Hashiba family, in addition to running the brewery, are officially licensed rice growers. While this may be a surprise to many, until fairly recently, sake breweries were restricted by law from growing their own rice. Even when the laws changed, however, few took up the opportunity; it’s difficult work. Izumibashi was naturally undeterred. The brewery together with local contract growers has been producing roughly 90% of what it needs. This is a true farm-to-table brewery, and the new tasting room allows visitors to sip the sake right at the source.
As Haruna explained to us, they converted an older storage building on the brewery campus into their tasting room. It has a sleek, warm interior but preserves some of the details of the original space, including high ceilings and rafters like the storehouses of old. The tasting room opens out onto a courtyard where the brewery sometimes hosts public events.
The interior features a few small tables for guests, as well as two larger tables that can accommodate up to twenty people in a community setting. Sounds like a great place for a party, doesn’t it? There is additional seating outside. Beyond pouring their delicious, award-winning sake, Izumibashi also serves simple food items for pairing with your sake–things like cream cheese pickled in sake lees and miso, and served on crackers. Starting in May, there will be some main-course dishes (like pizza) added to the menu.
Izumibashi doesn’t stop there. They offer educational tours (available in English) that incorporate videos in the tasting room and a tour of their rice fields. Haruna adds, “We always wanted visitors to stay longer, rather than just purchase a few bottles before leaving.” Now they definitely can, and will surely want to. Book your tour or simply drop into the brewery for great sake and food from a family that has dedicated their lives to it.
Website: www.izumibashi.com
Address: Ebina, Shimoimaizumi 5-5-1