Mr. Keizo Ishida, the chief brewer of [Matsuse Sake Brewery], is in his 25th season of sake brewing this year. "I came here right after graduating from university, so I don't know about other jobs or workplaces," says Matsuse Sake Brewery. Mr. Ishida was the first employee to join this production.
“When I joined the company, I stayed with the chief brewers from Noto for half a year and made sake.”

After about seven years, the chief brewer retired. Mr. Ishida became an employee toji. “At the time, I was the youngest toji in the Noto Toji Association. It was quite difficult to bring together the craftsmen of the industry,” he recalls with a wry smile.
[Matsuse Sake Brewery] is known for its brand of "Matsu no Tsukasa". Founded in 1860, the brewery has a long history, and the current president is the sixth generation. The keyword for sake brewing is “locality.” “We, who make sake in this brewery, and the farmers who grow rice in the area. We are trying to make sake honestly based on the shared atmosphere and regional characteristics of Ryuo. is a processor, so it's important not to distort the locality of this land and bring out our own color."

What is Ryuoh's locality? When asked, "This laid-back rural landscape is everything. I grew up in Kyoto's Minami Ward, and have lived a life without sake breweries or agriculture. Maybe that's why I feel it's too much," says Mr. Ishida.
The rice produced from this landscape is the life of Matsu no Tsukasa. Most of the sake rice used is grown by contract farmers in Ryuo Town (about 20% is from Hyogo Prefecture). Moreover, even within the region, it is said that even more detailed regional characteristics appear in rice.

“Even if the variety is the same, the taste differs depending on the location. In the town, there are sandy soils, clay soils, and red soils. Farmers usually talk about such things. Don't you think that's amazing?" Labels with ``Hashimoto'', ``Yuge'', ``Yamanaka'' and ``Kakakocho'' showed us that there is sake that can taste the ultimate locality. It is brewed according to the soil, with the name of the area in Ryuo-cho where the rice was harvested. “All sake rice is Yamada Nishiki. In fact, the yeast and fermentation process are the same, so the taste of the finished sake is the same. However, the starch in the rice is different, so the texture is different.” One unique to [Matsuse Sake Brewery], which is particular about the region. It is a sake full of respect for rice farmers.

Mr. Ishida says that in order to bring out the locality in sake, he is trying not to show himself.
“Alcohol is not a daily necessity, but something that adds something to it. That’s why I want to make it as neutral as possible. I think it will backfire.

Mr. Ishida says this, but in fact, there was a time when he admired a certain sake from Shizuoka Prefecture.
"When I joined the company, I thought, 'I want to make that kind of sake,' and I thought, 'It's better to do that,' and 'This is better.' But that's a different direction for sake. No matter how much I try to get closer to my favorite sake, I'm getting farther and farther away from that sake and my own tastes. Personality already exists. Rice made from the soil here and water that springs from here. That's why I've realized now that it's good to tailor it accordingly."

Ryuo's locality was discovered through repeated trial and error.
What does it taste like?
"Delicate and beautiful... It's different. That's hard to approach, and it's a bit dangerous, isn't it? Here it's warm, fluffy, and has a sense of substance. ).

A rice field spreads out around the storehouse. The rice grown in the soil and water of the region, and exposed to the wind and sun, is the very locality of this place where time passes peacefully. In the fall, Mr. Ishida and others take over from the farmer and turn it into sake. That is how Matsunotsukasa brews sake.

■ Shiga Prefecture
[Kanenaka Liquor Store] 0749-62-0471 / 33-5 Motohamacho, Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture
[Wine Cellar Ginza Yamagataya] 0749-22-1308 / 6-7 Ginzacho, Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture
[Japanese local sake, world famous sake Koizumi] 0748-23-2666 / 3-6 Aobacho, Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture
[Omasuya] 0748-27-0014 / 447 Yamagami, Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture
[Sake no Sakaeya] 0748-33-3311 / 5 Kamishincho, Omihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture
[Konishi Liquor Store] 0748-37-7422 / 1511 Ueda-cho, Omihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture
[Baba Liquor Store] 0748-37-0279 / 164 Senzotomo-cho, Omihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture
[Matsuse Liquor Store] 0748-57-0104 / 809 Hayashi, Ryuo-cho, Gamo-gun, Shiga Prefecture
[Murai Liquor Store] 0748-57-0402 / 34-4 Shima, Ryuo-cho, Gamo-gun, Shiga Prefecture
[Liquor Cunk] 0748-52-0221 / 486-5 Uchiike, Hino-cho, Gamo-gun, Shiga Prefecture
[Washida Liquor Store] 077-582-2153 / 118 Nakamachi, Moriyama City, Shiga Prefecture
[Kitada Liquor Store] 077-552-8070 / 3 Kitanakoji, Ritto City, Shiga Prefecture
[14th Kanazawa] 077-562-0038 / 8-16-14 Oiwake, Kusatsu City, Shiga Prefecture
[Tokuji Liquor Store] 077-565-0070 / 526-3 Shimokasa-cho, Kusatsu City, Shiga Prefecture
[Tokuchi Liquor Store Konan Branch] 0748-76-3392 / 370 Yoshinaga, Konan City, Shiga Prefecture
[Yoshino] 077-537-1901 / 18-19 Matsubara-cho, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture
[Nakajima Liquor Store] 0748-42-0221 / 751-2 Kakimi, Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture

■ Kyoto Prefecture
[Local sake and wine specialty store Maruman] 0774-52-3582 / 92-4 Terada Kitayamada, Joyo City, Kyoto Prefecture
[Kitamura Liquor Food Store] 075-982-8935 / 14-111 Yawata Kakigaya, Yawata City, Kyoto Prefecture
[Tsunoki Sake Store] 075-221-2441 / 194 Higashi Uoyamachi, Tominokoji-dori Higashi-iru, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
[Sake no Yamamoto Kyoto store] 075-761-0124 / 36-3 Horinjimonzencho, Kawabata-dori Sanjoagaru, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
[Komatsu wisteria] 075-871-0138 / 34 Saga Shakado Daimoncho, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture