A Festival That Brought Him Home

Nihonmatsu is home to a traditional lantern festival with more than 350 years of history. During the Nihonmatsu Lantern Festival, seven neighborhoods bring their festival floats through the streets, illuminating the castle town with hundreds of glowing lanterns. For local people, the festival is something special. Some who live elsewhere may not return home for New Year’s, but they make a point of coming back for the festival.

Saito also returned to Nihonmatsu to take part in the festival while attending university in Tokyo. As the eldest of three brothers, he grew up in the family that ran the brewery, but his parents never insisted that he take over the business. Each time he returned for the festival, he saw local people enjoying his family’s sake. Friends and neighbors gathered, shared drinks, and celebrated together. Himonoya’s sake was always part of those gatherings.

Seeing these moments gradually changed how he felt about the family business. After graduating from university, he spent two years training at a sake brewery in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, before returning to Nihonmatsu to join the family business. He later became the seventh-generation owner when his father’s health declined. He loved the festival and the people who made it special. Taking over the brewery may also have been his way of staying connected to the hometown he loved.

The Sake Locals Have Always Enjoyed

Nihonmatsu is home to several well-known sake breweries, including Daishichi and Okunomatsu. Among them, Senkonari has long been a familiar sake for people living around Nihonmatsu Castle and in the old castle town. It is the kind of sake locals enjoy at home and sometimes bring as a gift when visiting friends or relatives elsewhere.

Senkonari has a close connection to the local food culture. In Nihonmatsu, people sometimes enjoy bonito (katsuo) with generous amounts of raw garlic. The combination has a bold flavor that might overpower a very light, delicate sake. For Saito, good sake is sake that goes well with the food people enjoy in their own community. It should be something local people can share and enjoy with their everyday meals.

When people talk about Japanese sake, the conversation often turns to delicate aromas, rice polishing ratios, or awards. But there is another kind of appeal in sake that people drink with their everyday meals. Families and friends gather around familiar dishes, sharing the sake they have always enjoyed. Senkonari has been part of everyday life in Nihonmatsu’s castle town for generations.

A Brewery Supported by Its People

Himonoya Sake Brewery has a history stretching back more than 150 years, but keeping the business going has not always been easy. The Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, the COVID-19 pandemic, and more recently, rising rice prices have all brought serious challenges.

The increasing cost of rice continues to put pressure on the brewery. Yet raising prices is not a simple decision when so many regular customers are local people who have enjoyed the sake for years. Saito thinks carefully about what customers can reasonably afford, hoping they can continue to enjoy Senkonari as part of their daily lives.

Despite the difficulties he has overcome, Saito never takes all the credit for keeping the brewery going. “It’s all thanks to everyone who has supported us. Really.” His gratitude for the people around him comes through naturally in those simple words.

Today, sake production at Himonoya is led by a local toji, or master sake brewer. Before the 2011 earthquake, the brewery worked with a Nanbu toji from Iwate Prefecture, part of a long-established tradition of skilled sake brewers. Since then, the brewery has gradually shifted toward employing and training local people. As the brewery owner, Saito shares his vision for the sake he wants to produce, while trusting the toji and brewing team to handle the actual process.

Sake brewing depends heavily on nature, and in recent years, unusually hot summers have affected rice quality, sometimes making the brewing process more difficult. Saito understands these challenges. Even when the finished sake does not turn out quite as planned, he sees it as his responsibility to do his best to sell it. The people who make the sake, those who enjoy drinking it, and everyone who supports the brewery have all helped Himonoya continue its long history.

The History of Nihonmatsu in Every Glass

To understand sake in Nihonmatsu, it helps to know about Mount Adatara, which rises to the west of the town. Water from the mountain has supported rice cultivation for generations. Rice was brought into the castle town, where sake was made and shared among local people. Over time, this relationship between the land, food, and sake helped shape Nihonmatsu’s sake culture.

The water used at Himonoya is also closely connected to Mount Adatara. Rain and snow that fall on the mountain gradually filter through the ground over many years before becoming groundwater. According to Saito, some of the water used to make Senkonari today may have started as snow that fell on the mountain around 40 years ago. Knowing where the water comes from, and hearing about the history of sake making in this area, makes a glass of Senkonari feel even more connected to Nihonmatsu.

Discover Nihonmatsu Beyond the Brewery

There is something else Saito hopes visitors will enjoy besides the sake brewery itself: the town of Nihonmatsu. He wants people to explore the old castle town, stay at a local hot spring inn, and take time to discover what makes the area special. His hope reflects the same affection for his hometown that brought him back for the Lantern Festival during his university years.

At Himonoya, visitors can meet a seventh-generation brewery owner, hear about sake making and local traditions, and taste Senkonari, a sake that has long been enjoyed by people in the castle town. Visiting a sake brewery is about more than tasting sake. It is also a chance to meet local people and learn about the history and culture that are part of their everyday lives.

If your travels bring you to Nihonmatsu, we hope you’ll have the chance to meet Saito at Himonoya Sake Brewery. A glass of Senkonari might give you another reason to appreciate this welcoming castle town.