Seiun Sake Brewery

Seiun Sake Brewery was founded in 1902 (Meiji 35). The name "Seiun" (clear clouds) is said to derive from a verse composed by the first head, Tokutaro Nakayama, when he climbed Mt. Fuji — capturing the view he gazed up at from the summit and his clear state of mind: "Looking up, even my heart, like the sky, becomes clear — ah, the clear clouds (seiun)."

Blessed with the cool climate typical of a basin and abundant groundwater, Ogawa Town has long been a land of active sake brewing, and as one of Kanto's leading sake regions it has been called "Kanto's Nada." Here, as a locally rooted sake brewery, Seiun upholds quality-first brewing with "sake beloved by local people" in mind.

It uses Saitama-grown rice for its raw material — especially rice harvested around Ogawa Town — and about 30 years ago also adopted local pesticide-free rice. Carefully milling the rice in-house, it brews slowly using cold-season brewing suited to ginjo production. The labels born this way — "Seiun," "Kinshozan," "Zensho," "Ogawa no Shizenshu" and more — are widely enjoyed, from the community's everyday evening drink to celebratory occasions and gifts.

Drawing on a region where organic farming thrives, Seiun Sake Brewery has walked alongside organic farmers, centered on its "Ogawa no Shizenshu" series. Beyond brewing, through the brewery restaurant "Shizen-dokoro Tamaiya," brewery tours and experience programs, it also plays a role in connecting producers and consumers, the community and the brewery — continuing to share the appeal of "Ogawa, the home of organic farming" and the culture of sake.

A brewery in Bushu-Ogawa, an ideal sake-brewing region called "Kanto's Nada"

Ogawa Town, where Seiun Sake Brewery is located, is a basin surrounded by the Soto-Chichibu mountains, blessed with clean groundwater from the Chichibu range. Its water quality is said to rival the famed Miyamizu of Nada and, combined with the severe winter cold, has earned the area one of Kanto's leading sake regions — also called "Kanto's Nada." In this town where washi paper, joinery and organic farming live on, it continues brewing sake close to the local landscape.

A commitment to local Saitama-grown rice and in-house milling

It actively adopts Saitama-grown rice for its raw material, much of it rice harvested in the area around the brewery. About 30 years ago it also began using local pesticide-free rice in its brewing, carefully milling it on the brewery's own machine before fermentation. By having the toji and brewers finish, without sparing effort, the rice that local farmers have raised with care, the soft flavor characteristic of "Seiun" is born.

"Ogawa no Shizenshu" and building a home of organic farming

Organic farming took deep root in Ogawa Town after Yoshinori Kaneko (Shimosato Farm), a pioneer of organic farming in Japan, converted to organic methods in 1971. Seiun Sake Brewery partnered with Mr. Kaneko from the 1988 rice harvest and began brewing "Ogawa no Shizenshu." For over 30 years since, it has worked with organic farmers, and from 2004 has held the "Enjoy Sake-Making from Rice-Growing" event, where consumers can experience everything from rice cultivation to brewing — part of its efforts to build "Ogawa, the home of organic farming."

Circular brewing and the brewery restaurant "Shizen-dokoro Tamaiya"

The rice bran produced during milling is returned to organic farmers' fields, and the sake lees are used as table items such as shochu, amazake and kasujiru. At the attached brewery restaurant "Shizen-dokoro Tamaiya," Seiun's sake is served alongside dishes that make use of freshly picked vegetables from local farmers and the brewing water. Through a circular system — in which food waste becomes compost, returns to the fields and produces new crops — it practices sustainable brewing together with the community.