Sake aficionados happily make the trek out to the bayside city of Hannan in southwestern Osaka prefecture to savour the artisanal nihonshu turned out by the oldest still operating sake brewery in the prefecture. Naniwa Shuzo, now run by the tenth generation of the founding family, has been in business since 1716 but is far from stuck in its ways.
Using both rice grown in Hannan and product from the vast fields of adjacent Hyogo prefecture, the brewery makes around 30 to 40 varieties of sake every year and always strives to up its game. Results have been impressive: in 2022, the Naniwa Masamune Daiginjo sake took home a silver medal at the International Wine Challenge in London, catapulting the Naniwa Shuzo name into the global limelight.
Most Naniwa sake is mild and balanced, ideal for pairing with a wide variety of foods. The brewery building includes a shop stocking Naniwa’s full line-up, as well as a small museum exhibiting the company’s history. Tours of the brewery are also available on request.