Hiroshima — Where Soft-Water Brewing Changed Everything

In the Meiji era, Japan’s two great sake regions — Nada with its hard water, Fushimi with its soft water — produced very different sakes through very different processes. Soft-water sake was considered inferior: the fermentation was slow and unreliable, producing inconsistent results. Then Miiri Kametaro, a brewer from Hiroshima, changed everything.

The Soft Water Problem and Its Solution

Hiroshima’s water is extremely soft — almost devoid of the minerals that normally stimulate yeast activity. Brewing sake with this water produced sluggish, often contaminated fermentations. Miiri’s insight, developed through years of systematic experimentation in the 1890s, was that soft-water sake required different temperature management, different timing, and different yeast handling — not harder water.

His techniques — cool-temperature fermentation, more careful monitoring, adjusted timing — transformed Hiroshima sake from a regional curiosity into a recognized style. His work won a gold medal at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and earned him a place in the history of Japanese brewing science.

Saijo — The Sake Town

Saijo, a district of Higashihiroshima City, became the center of Hiroshima’s sake industry. The area’s water, with its ideal soft profile, attracted breweries that cluster along a single street of preserved traditional warehouses — one of Japan’s most striking sake destination neighborhoods. Every autumn, the Saijo Sake Festival draws over 100,000 visitors.

Key Breweries

Kamoizumi: The most internationally celebrated Hiroshima brewery, known for full-bodied junmai sakes with genuine umami depth.

Fukucho (Imada Shuzojo): Female toji Miho Imada produces exceptional sake with clear artistic intention.

Kirei (Kamo Shuzo): Fragrant, accessible ginjo expressions that demonstrate what Hiroshima water produces at its most elegant.