Hōrai Shinshu Shiboritate

Hōrai Shinshu Shiboritate (蓬莱 新酒しぼりたて) is made with Hidahomare rice grown in Gifu and milled to 60%. It is a namazake bottled directly from the tank with a vivid flavour, just like the freshly pressed sake you would drink at the brewery.

The year's first batch of freshly pressed sake is dedicated with heartfelt gratitude to Matsuo-sama (松尾様), the revered deity of sake. In a tradition upheld since the brewery's founding, a priest from the local shrine solemnly offers the new sake at the altar while the brewmaster, tōji, and all the brewery workers gather to pray for a safe brewing season and the divine blessing of crafting exceptional sake.

Following the sacred ritual, the brewery marks the arrival of the new sake by replacing the old Sugiyama (杉玉)—a ball of cedar branches—with a fresh one. This longstanding event also announces the completion of the new brew to the local community. It is said that, at the moment of the ceremonial toast, the brewers are overwhelmed with deep emotions as they savour the fruits of their labour, trembling with the sheer joy of sake-making.

Awards:

• IWC International Wine Challenge – Highest Gold Award & Champion Trophy Winner
• Monde Selection – Gold Medal Winner for 13 Consecutive Years
• Japan's Most Awarded Brewery – 8 Gold Medals Across Multiple Categories.

The town of Furukawa in Hida, where the Hōrai Brewery is located, lies in the Furukawa Basin in the northernmost part of Gifu Prefecture, surrounded by the Northern Alps and the Hida Mountains, which are over 3,000 metres in altitude. "The townscape of Hida Furukawa has a splendid, graceful and ancient character. The town is not a tourist destination so that you can feel its unspoilt appearance, expression and even personality," said author Shiba Ryōtarō (司馬 遼太郎, 1923-1996) in his book 'Kaidō wo Yuku. Ichino-cho, with its rows of old merchant houses with protruding wooden latticework, has a calm atmosphere, and the Setogawa riverbank, with its rows of storehouses with white and black hip walls, still exudes a tranquil atmosphere.

In 1732, Watanabe Kyuemon (渡邉久右衛門) established a business under the name 'Aragiya' (荒城屋), while Kyuemon II started a money-changing business and also produced raw silk to sell to Kyōto. In 1870, the fifth generation of the Watanabe family began brewing sake, which became very popular. It is written that while singing Noh songs at a feast to enjoy sake, he got intoxicated by the indescribable droplets of gems. During the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa eras, he visited famous breweries nationwide and sought to learn sake-brewing techniques. Wakayama Bokusui (若山牧水, 1885-1928) and other writers and artists visiting Hida loved it, and Hōrai gradually became known to sake connoisseurs. It has been highly praised as a representative sake of Hida, rooted in the local climate, and has been loved by locals for a long time as a part of the joy of life with seasonal ingredients.