Ueda Shuzo Co., Ltd. is located in Nara, the ancient capital of Japan. It was established about 430 years ago and has been known for brewing high-quality Japanese sake since ancient times. The brand name “IKOMAHOUZAN” comes from a famous temple in Ikoma Prefecture, which is regarded by many as the god of commerce. Another brand name “KICHO” is derived from the hope that beautiful things can last for a long time. 

Ueda Shuzo adheres to tradition and innovation, and has always persisted in the business philosophy of  ”quality first”. Brewed with carefully selected rice types such as Yamada Nishiki from Hyogo Prefecture and the Tsuyuba Kaze from Nara Prefecture, the excellent delicacy of the sake has a delicate and fresh flavor.  The water sourced from Mountain Ikoma is soft, which features a round and soft taste to the sake.

Founded more than 400 years ago “Sake has heart”. Over 400 years have passed since Sobei Ueda first started brewing sake to the current head of the family. In Nara Prefecture, the birthplace of sake, as a long-established sake brewery that has continued since the Muromachi period, we continue to diligently produce high-quality sake using the famous water of Ikoma and high-quality domestic rice. We don’t believe in mass production, and only sell carefully crafted sake that we can recommend with confidence.

It is said that the refined sake that we drink today began to be produced around the Middle Ages. Shoryaku-ji Temple in Nara City produced some of the best sake that the Shogunate praised highly. At Shoryaku-ji Temple, epoch-making sake brewing technology that became the basis of modern brewing methods was created, and a large amount of sake was brought to Edo. Because of this background, it came to be called “the birthplace of Japanese sake”.

We continues to make genuine sake in Ikoma City, Nara, with a focus on water, techniques, and rice. We use groundwater from Ikoma, which is said to be famous for its water, and carefully selected domestic brewed rice. We are proud to say that our famous sake, made with the utmost care and attention from the rice-polishing ratio, is truly the one and only sake. While inheriting the traditional sake brewing methods of the historic brewery and toji, we actively introduce new techniques. Ueda Sake Brewery, which continues to evolve in line with the current times, strives to improve quality every day through research and ingenuity by brewers.

Since its founding, Ueda Sake Brewery’s sake has been brewed with techniques that have been refined with the wisdom and intuition of successive generations of chief brewers, and careful brewing that does not cut corners. Ueda Sake Brewery strives to brew quality sake with outstanding technology and heart.