Tensei Junmai Yokohama Damashii

Kumazawa Tensei Junmai Yokohama Damashii (天青 純米 横濱魂) is a junmai sake brewed by Kumazawa Shuzō using Gohyakumangoku (五百万石) rice grown in Yokohama. The product is notable for its use of locally cultivated rice and is distributed only through seven retailers within Yokohama, rather than through the brewery or its directly operated shops. The sake is brewed with rice polished to 60% and fermented with Kyōkai No. 7 yeast. It has an alcohol content of 15%, a sake meter value of +3, and an acidity of 2.1. The style is built around a clear expression of rice character, with a profile that balances freshness and umami. It is positioned as a food-oriented sake, particularly suited to seasoned dishes where its structure can complement rather than overpower the meal. As a limited regional release, it reflects both local sourcing and a strong connection to Yokohama.

Kumazawa Shuzō (熊澤酒造), known for its sake brand Tensei (天青), was founded in 1872 (Meiji 5) and is regarded as the last remaining sake brewery in the Shōnan region of Kanagawa. For more than 150 years, it has continued to be brewed in Chigasaki, combining long-established sake production with a broader role in local culture.

Historically a traditional kura, the brewery entered a new phase in the late twentieth century under the current generation of family ownership, expanding beyond sake into broader fermentation and cultural projects. In 1996, it launched the craft beer line Shōnan Beer, one of the earlier entrants in Japan's craft beer movement. Around the brewery, old industrial and agricultural buildings were gradually repurposed into restaurants, cafés, shops, and gallery spaces, reflecting the brewery's view that a kura can serve as both a cultural gathering place and a producer.

Sake production remains at the centre of the brewery's identity. Kumazawa is known for working with food-oriented styles and for linking its brewing to local agriculture. That emphasis has grown in recent years through projects using locally grown rice.

As part of this effort, the brewery began cultivating Gohyakumangoku (五百万石) in Higashimatano, Totsuka Ward, Yokohama, in 2020. The area, centred on the Sakai River, has broad farmland and spring-fed irrigation, with relatively stable water temperatures year-round. It lies about 8.5 kilometres from the brewery. Cultivation began on roughly one tan of land and expanded in 2021 to about six tan as additional contract farmers joined the project. In 2022, the brewery released its first junmai sake brewed entirely from Yokohama-grown Gohyakumangoku.

This project is part of a wider philosophy at Kumazawa: connecting rice growing, brewing and place. Rather than relying solely on established sake-rice regions, the brewery has sought to anchor part of its production in the Shōnan and Yokohama areas themselves.

Interesting details about Kumazawa include this unusual combination of old and new. It is at once a Meiji-period brewery, a pioneer in Japanese craft beer, and a producer experimenting with hyper-local sake rice. Its motto, often rendered as "Drunkenness enriches Japan" (よっぱらいは日本を豊かにする), reflects that somewhat expansive view of what a brewery can be.