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Sake brewing in Osaka began in Japan’s Middle Ages with a famous monastery, Amanosan Kongoji. Standing in Kawachi-Nagano, this is still a great Esoteric Buddhist temple. The sake, Amano-shu, was provided to the Ashikaga shoguns and also Hideyoshi is on record as a fervent admirer. Technically, this sake was also advanced - it was brewed by filling the brewing vats in two batches with rice, water and koji, instead of putting everything in at the same time, thus giving the yeast time to start working properly (now the sandan-shikomi, or method of “three times adding” is normal). The temple stopped brewing in the Edo-period, but a brewery in the same area has revived the name and the method.

[Daimon (Sakahan) Sake Brewery & Restaurant, Katano, Osaka]

Osaka used to have many small breweries, in Kawachi, Ikeda and Izumi. Many of these made sake especially for Edo, to where it was transported by boat. Only the best sake was shipped to Edo and this was called “kudari-sake,” or “sake making the trip down (to Edo).” Kudaranai-sake, in contrast, was not worth shipping and that gave rise to the modern expression “kudaranai,” meaning “useless.”

Many breweries have disappeared - in Sakai (Izumi) the number is zero, and in Ikeda only one, Goshun, survives. But although the number is small, some excellent local kura have survived, as is shown below.

Facts:
Sake production volume Osaka Prefecture in 2006 (figures National Tax Office): 2,835 kiloliters
Sake rice: Mishima Omachi; some breweries grow their own Yamada Nishiki.

Number of breweries (Japan Sake Brewers Association website): 20

Taste: in general, sake from Osaka is smooth and full, but not heavy.

[Sake from Osaka. Left to right: Ginjoshu from Amanozake, Junmaiginjo "Rikyubai" from Daimon and Junmaishu from Akishika]

Some interesting breweries:

• Akishika Shuzo (1868; Akishika, “Autumn Deer”). Made from Yamada Nishiki rice grown by the brewery staff themselves in the Nose area - a rare case of a brewery planting its own rice. A strongly flavored sake.
• Daimon Shuzo (1826; Rikyubai, “Plum of Rikyu, ” a famous Japanese poet). Located at the foot of the scenic Ikoma mountain range in Katano City. The brewery also operates a good restaurant, Mukune-tei. The co’s “Mukune” premium sake is being exported to the US. The sake is full-flavored but mellow and well-balanced. Also grows its own Yamada Nishiki. Using in total 75% sake brand-rice, rice polishing percentage is on average 54%. English website.
• Goshun (1948; Goshun, a late 18th c. painter and poet, disciple of Buson, who lived in Ikeda). Only brewery left in Ikeda (Hankyu Takurazuka Line), once a flourishing sake center. Soft taste.
• Saijo (1718; Amanozake, “Sake from Amano”, referring to the Kongoji Temple). This brewery took its name from a facility that was set up in the 16th century in the Amanozan Kogoji Temple. Seventy monks were engaged there in brewing a heavy, dark sake. The sakes of Saijo indeed possess a distinctive, mature taste. Uses Omachi sake rice, master brewer from Nambu guild. In 1972 the company tried to revive the “temple sake taste” that was liked so much by warlords as Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Called “Sobushu,” the koji for this sake is made over four days, resulting in a darker and sweeter sake than usual.

Information from: National Tax Office and Japan Sake Breweries Association
Regional profile gleaned from: Nihonshu no Tekisuto (2): Sanchi no Tokucho to Tsukuritetachi by renowned sake journalist Matsuzaki Haruo (Doyukan, 2005). Some information about individual breweries based on Matsuzaki Haruo, Tastes of 1635 Shinpan Nihonshu Gaidobukku (Shibata Shoten 2003), as well as The Sake Companion by John Gaunter (Running Press) and The Insider’s Guide to Sake by Philip Harper (Kodansha International). Also read this article about Osaka sake by John Gauntner.