Our recommended sake ``Yatsugatake Fukunoyama'' is a private brand of ``Yatsugatake Nanroku Farm'', a pesticide-free and fertilizer-free farm at the foot of Mt. Yatsugatake.
I visited this farm and stayed overnight on the 3rd and 4th holidays in November, where I had the opportunity to experience threshing rice. We also enjoyed the delicious ``Yatsugatake Fukunoyama'' Junmai Ginjo and steamed vegetables grown at Yatsugatake Nanroku Farm. It was a very valuable and wonderful experience.
You can find out by going there. There's something so moving about standing in a rice field on a farm and looking around. You can see Mt. Fuji and Mt. Yatsugatake facing each other, and sandwiched between them is the mountain range of the Southern Alps. Are there any other environments like this?
Although the temperature continued to be unseasonably high, comparable to that of late summer, the air was clean and I felt a faint cool breeze from the mountains.
I felt the hard labor of farming. Lift up the bundled rice and put it into the threshing machine. The ears of rice are being threshed vigorously. When I repeated this process, my body, which usually lacks exercise, responded well. The fallen ears of rice were also carefully picked up. I felt that we were receiving rice that had been made with so much heart and soul.
At Yatsugatake Nanroku Farm, rice and crops are grown without pesticides or fertilizers. This is more than just organic farming. There are not many farms that use farming methods that completely do not use pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
The sake rice ``Kamenoo'' that is the raw material for ``Yatsugatake Fukunoyama'' is grown here. We were able to experience the threshing of this "Kame-no-O" and get a glimpse of its cultivation. ``Kamenoo'' is said to be a fantastic sake rice, and is said to be the root of modern branded rice. At Yatsugatake Nanroku Farm, crops are grown naturally without even using organic fertilizers.
This carefully cultivated sake rice, ``Kamenoo,'' is brewed at Tanizakura Sake Brewery, a sake brewery close to the farm, and becomes the sake ``Yatsugatake Fukunoyama.'' The manufacturing process is also full of attention to detail. This also uses Kimoto-zukuri, which is rarely used in the sake manufacturing process. Kimoto-zukuri involves fermenting using natural lactic acid bacteria and microorganisms to create a ``moto'' or ``shubo'' with high-quality yeast.
``Yatsugatake Fukuno'' is brewed using ``Kamenoo,'' a fantastic sake rice grown naturally without pesticides or fertilizers, using ``Kimoto-zukuri'' using natural yeast, a traditional process that has continued since the Edo period. ``Yama'' is a sake that is made with the utmost care.
We were pathetic, making a lot of noise after just half a day of farming, but the Yatsugatake Fuku no Yama that we tasted that night was so delicious that words cannot describe it.
It had a refreshing, penetrating taste, and had the purity of nature at the foot of Mt. Yatsugatake. Yet, I enjoyed the rich, rich taste that I never get tired of, along with the naturally steamed vegetables, and although it was only for a short time, I felt like I was being reborn.
We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Mr. Hachimaki of Yatsugatake Nanroku Farm for his help.
After graduating from the Faculty of Law at Waseda University, Mr. Yamaki started his own business and later opened his own pesticide-free and fertilizer-free farm at the foot of Mt. Yatsugatake. He has been active as a mountaineer for a long time and has conquered mountains in Europe and Africa.
We will continue to strive to convey the wonders of this sake.
Please be sure to purchase ``Yatsugatake Fukunoyama'' at the treasured sake store Takami Sake Store and enjoy its special taste.
"Yatsugatake Fuku no Yama" Junmai Ginjo Genshu Nama Sake Kimoto making 720ml
https://hizouno-nihonshu.com/products/720ml_hukunoyama_jyunmaiginjyo_kimotorow