The Background of Nabeshima

The history of Fukuchiyo Shuzo dates back to 1924, which means the brewery has been around for just over a hundred years.
In the world of sake breweries, that’s not especially old, but it still carries a respectable amount of history.

The brewery was established in a place called Hizen Hamashuku in Kashima, Saga Prefecture. This area has actually been known for sake brewing since the Edo period, so the region itself has a long connection to sake culture.

However, the brand “Nabeshima” was born much later, in 1998.

The person who created Nabeshima is Naoki Iimori, the current third-generation owner of the brewery.

Originally, Iimori had no intention of taking over the family business. After graduating from university, he planned to live a normal life as a company employee.

That was until 1988, when his father suddenly passed away in a traffic accident.

After that event, Iimori returned to the brewery. But at the time, both the location of the brewery and the position of sake in the market were far from favorable.

The domestic sake market was shrinking, while beer, wine, and whisky were becoming more popular. On top of that, discount retailers began selling sake very cheaply, which made it difficult to compete on price as well.

Like many stories of people who overcome hardship, the brewery found itself at a crossroads:
Should they simply be swept away by the changing tide, or should they try to change the tide with their own unique strength?

Under the slogan “Let’s create a sake that represents Kyushu,” Iimori and the younger members of the brewery decided to create Nabeshima.

It wasn’t a case like Sharaku, which quickly became successful soon after its debut.

Some sake gain recognition from the market almost immediately after they appear.
Nabeshima, however, was not one of those cases.

One reason might be that Kyushu is traditionally more famous for shochu than for sake, and Saga Prefecture itself wasn’t widely known as a sake region either.

Still, the brewery didn’t waste time. The people involved continued discussing the direction of Nabeshima, improving it step by step.

Their efforts were finally rewarded when they won an award at the IWC (International Wine Challenge) in London in 2011, which helped the brand gain wider recognition.

Today, Nabeshima has achieved the goal they set at the beginning:
to become a sake representing Saga, and even one of the representative sakes of Kyushu.

Externally, it is sometimes mentioned alongside Sharaku (Fukushima) and Jikon (Mie) as part of the group often called “Post-Juyondai.”

In one interview, Iimori said something interesting:

“My father also didn’t want to take over the family business.
He even went to a university in Tokyo, but in the end he came back and spent the rest of his life brewing sake.”

Looking back on his own life, Iimori says he sometimes thinks,
“After all, we really are father and son.”

From the sudden loss of his father,
to the determination that followed,
and finally to the success they achieved.

Once you learn the story behind it, it becomes hard not to love this sake even more.
That sake is Nabeshima.

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My Experience with Nabeshima

The Nabeshima Blossom Moon I bought this time had a flavor and aroma somewhat similar to the image suggested by its label.

It didn’t exactly smell like flowers, but it had a fresh aroma and a slight sense of gentle carbonation.

On the Sakenomy website, it was described as being on the sweeter side, but to me it felt closer to a dry style.

The finish wasn’t very long, and it ended clean and crisp.

The food I paired it with was yakiniku—specifically kainomi (flap meat) and beef tongue, both relatively lean cuts. As expected, it matched very well.

Except for strongly flavored soup dishes like motsunabe, I think it would pair well with most foods.

After finishing dinner, I still had some work to do, so I only drank about a quarter of the bottle.

Now I’m debating whether I should finish the rest tomorrow evening, or leave a little and enjoy it again later.

Thanks to Nabeshima, I get to go to sleep tonight with a pleasant little dilemma.

Thank you, Nabeshima.

I was about to finish writing this article, but while thinking about Nabeshima, I suddenly remembered a bottle I had in Korea that was incredibly delicious, so I’ll attach that photo here.