Hōshuku (Toyosawa Honten)
Toyosawa Honten was founded in the late 1800s in Tennōji, Osaka, by Toyosawa Gisuke (dates unknown). Initially, the company only traded sake and did not produce its own. But in 1868 Gisuke began brewing and founded what became the company’s main brewery in Nara. In 1953, the brewery expanded the company’s operations into Fushimi, allured to Fushimi’s pure water. Today, Toyosawa Honten uses Shiragikusui spring water to produce its signature sake, Hōshuku.
Hōshuku is written with characters that mean “prosperity” and “celebration,” both of which were taken from a haiku written by the company’s founder:
ine minori
kuni mo yutaka yo
iwaizake
The rice has ripened
the country prospers
we celebrate with sake
The brewery currently produces roughly 180 kiloliters of sake each year, shipping its Hōshuku, Junmai Daiginjō Kyōmatoi, and Daiginjō Kiyotaki no Shizuku brands throughout western Japan.
Fifth-generation owner Toyosawa Yoshiya still adheres to Gisuke’s policy of crafting “sake to make all who drink it feel joyful.” Despite usually having a refreshingly dry and clean finish, Toyosawa Honten’s sake are still very much sake in the gentle Fushimi style.