Kinshi Masamune (Kinshi Masamune)
Kinshi Masamune was founded in 1781 by Matsuya Kyūbee (dates unknown) in the Nakagyō Kameyachō district of central Kyoto, which was known to have high-quality spring water. Water was again at the heart of the company’s values in 1880, when it moved to its current location in Fushimi above its own exclusive spring.
The spring, Tokiwai, has also been known as shizen no megumi, “nature’s bounty,” or inochi no mizu, “the water of life.” Almost 140 years after Kinshi Masamune moved to take advantage of this natural resource, the spring still produces 70,000 liters of water every hour.
Kinshi Masamune’s company motto is kyōjikomi, meaning “crafted in Kyoto.” Kinshi Masamune is one of the few breweries that offers tours during the winter while the sake is being made. Reservations must be made in advance, and guests who are wearing perfume or who have recently eaten nattō, a type of fermented soybeans, are not allowed on the tour. The fragrance of perfume can affect the final flavor of the sake, and some believe that the microorganisms in nattō are so strong that they can kill the yeast and kōji microbes vital to the company’s sake production.