Bringing Innovation to Traditional Japanese Sake Making — An Interview with Manaturu Brewery’s Father and Son

Keisuke and Rui Izumi are brewers at Manaturu Brewery, a 270-year-old brewery located in Echizen Ono, the “Little Kyoto” of Fukui Prefecture. Its location is famous for its crystal-clear water and snowy winters, two elements that allow making excellent sake.

Manaturu Brewery takes pride in doing most of the sake-making process by hand. But do not think they reject modernity: on the contrary, the brewery has found its own way to bring innovation to a traditional industry in which pre-fixed notions usually hardly change.

Keisuke, the father, has studied fermentation, brewing, and microbiology. He has been the master brewer at Manaturu Brewery for more than 30 years. The first ginjo-shu sake he made as a master brewer won the highest score at a prefectural sake tasting. Since then, he has kept winning numerous prizes.

Rui, the son, is 27 years old. After graduating from Tokyo University of Agriculture, he went to Vancouver, Canada, and New York, USA to learn the English language and expand his knowledge. He visited local sake breweries, Japanese restaurants, and sake bars to learn about sake on the global scale. In 2018, he joined Manaturu Brewery and became production manager in 2020. The same year, he was…