Naganuma Gomei Kaisha

Naganuma Gomei Kaisha (長沼合名会社) is a Japanese sake brewery based in Tōka-machi, Nagai, Yamagata Prefecture. It is the producer of the sake brands Soumura (惣邑), Kozakura (小桜) and Sōemon (惣右衛門). The Naganuma family has been established in the area since the Edo period and for nine generations ran a kimono shop and sericulture business; the tenth generation entered sake brewing in 1916 because there was no brewery in the immediate vicinity. The head of the house traditionally assumes the name Naganuma Sōemon. The brewery is known for adhering to old-fashioned equipment and labour-intensive methods: a koshiki steamer, a fune press rather than an automated press, hand-washing of rice, lid-koji, small batches, fune-shibori pressing and bottle storage. Its brewing rice is Yamagata-grown sake rice such as Ushu-homare, Dewa-sansan, Dewa-no-sato and Sake-mirai, and its brewing water is drawn from a deep well more than 45 metres down, yielding an extremely soft water with very low magnesium and calcium content. The brewery and shop buildings, six connected storehouses and merchant-house structures, were registered as national Tangible Cultural Properties in 2008. After a period in which cheap ordinary sake dominated its output and the business deteriorated as sake's popularity declined, the current generation, brewer Naganuma Nobuyuki and his wife Machiko, took over brewing around 2007 and began reform and rebranding around 2009. In 2010 they launched the new Soumura series, which gradually raised the brewery's profile, especially in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The house style is described as gentle in aroma, clean and smooth yet with deep umami, intended as a food-friendly sake that does not tire the drinker.

The Naganuma family has lived in the Nagai area since the Edo period and for nine generations operated a kimono shop and sericulture business. The tenth generation entered sake brewing in 1916, motivated by the absence of a nearby brewery, and the family has brewed sake in Nagai ever since. The head of the household traditionally takes the name Naganuma Sōemon. For much of the twentieth century the brewery produced mainly inexpensive ordinary sake. As sake consumption declined in Japan, this business model deteriorated, and by the time the current generation took over the brewery was in a difficult financial position. Nobuyuki and Machiko Naganuma became involved in brewing at Naganuma around 2005; Nobuyuki assumed the name Naganuma Sōemon in 2007 and began calling himself tōji around 2010. Machiko, who was born into the Naganuma family, had decided as a high-school student to inherit the brewery; the two met while studying brewing at Tokyo University of Agriculture's Department of Brewing Science. From around 2009 the couple undertook reform of brewing and rebranding. In 2010 they launched a new Soumura series using Yamagata sake rice such as Dewa-sansan and Dewa-no-sato, which became the brewery's flagship label and gradually raised its profile, particularly in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The name Soumura had in fact first been used for a product in 1999, when the brewery made a junmai ginjo using the Ushu-homare rice developed by Takagi Shuzo. Soumura made with Sake-mirai rice proved so popular that it sold out on reservation in 2017. The Kozakura label takes its name from the fact that the brewery site stands on the former Kozakura-kan. In 2008 the brewery's buildings were recognised: on 18 April 2008 the shop-and-main-house, Shikomi-gura, Mae-gura, Uchi-gura, Shin-gura and Naka-gura were registered as national Registered Tangible Cultural Properties. The main house is an Edo-period merchant building in wood, single-storey, with a gabled iron-sheet roof, built in 1838; the storehouses are earthen-walled, with the Shikomi-gura and Naka-gura dating from the Taishō era, the Mae-gura from 1871, the Uchi-gura from the late Edo to early Meiji period, and the Shin-gura from 1886. The brewery continues to use old equipment, including a koshiki steamer and a fune press, and labour-intensive methods such as hand-washing rice, lid-koji, small batches, fune-shibori pressing and bottle storage. Its rice is Yamagata-grown sake rice including Ushu-homare, Dewa-sansan, Dewa-no-sato and Sake-mirai, and its brewing water comes from a deep well over 45 metres deep, an extremely soft water with magnesium and calcium content of about 20 mg per litre. The house describes its aim as sake that is clean and smooth yet deeply savoury, with restrained aroma and a clean finish that does not tire the drinker.

• 2017

  Soumura made with Sake-mirai rice sells out at the reservation stage.

• 2010

  The new Soumura series is launched; Nobuyuki begins calling himself tōji.

• 2009

  The couple begin brewing reform and rebranding.

• 2008

  On 18 April the brewery and shop buildings are registered as national Registered Tangible Cultural Properties.

• 2007

  Nobuyuki assumes the name Naganuma Sōemon and takes over brewing.

• 2005

  Nobuyuki and Machiko Naganuma begin working in brewing at the brewery.

• 1999

  The Soumura name is first used for a junmai ginjo made with the Ushu-homare sake rice.

• 1916

  The tenth generation of the Naganuma family enters sake brewing in Nagai, Yamagata.

Small family brewery emphasising traditional hand-craft, 100% Yamagata-grown rice, yeast and water, and food-friendly sake with restrained aroma and deep umami.

• Soumura Junmai Ginjo Ushu-homare

• Soumura Junmai Ginjo Dewa-sansan

• Soumura Junmai Dewa-no-sato

• Soumura Junmai Ginjo Sake-mirai

• Kozakura Karakuchi Junmai

• Sōemon Junmai Daiginjo Aiyama

1. 1惣邑(そうむら)｜長沼合名会社 公式サイトsoumura.com
2. 2蔵について｜長沼合名会社soumura.com
3. 3会社概要｜長沼合名会社soumura.com
4. 4商品紹介｜長沼合名会社soumura.com
5. 5長沼 (酒造メーカー) - Wikipediaja.wikipedia.org
6. 6naganuma - Wikidatawikidata.org