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| Main Brand |
Shichiken |
| Kuramoto |
Yamanashi meijo Co., Ltd. |
| Founded |
1750 |
| Address |
2283 Daigahara, Hakusyu-cho, Hokuto-City, Yamanashi |
| Brewery Tours |
By reservation |
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The Shichiken brewery is located in the inn city of Koshu Daigaharajuku in Yamanashi Prefecture, positioned along the old Koshu highway that once connected Edo (modern Tokyo) to other parts of Japan. With its abundance of heritage Japanese homes, the city has been officially designated as having one of the top 100 thoroughfares in all of Japan.
It was in 1749, during the Middle Edo period, that founder Ihei Kitahara became entranced with the superb Hakushu water of this area during his travels between Edo and Takato-Shinshu, where he already operated a sake brewery. The superb local water prompted Kitahara to establish a second sake brewery here, which would come to be known as the Shichiken brewery. Ancient documents confirm that Kitahara negotiated with village officials to purchase a sake brewing license before setting up his new brewery.
Kitahara later constructed a home in the area in 1835. At the time, he called on the Lord of the Takato Castle, who arranged to have a set of hand-carved, Japanese ranma (transom pieces) commissioned to grace the Kitahara home. Meticulously crafted by Tatekawa Kazushiro Tomitane, a second generation master shrine carpenter from the Suwa area, the transom was given the title "Takebayashi no Shichikenjin" (Seven Philosophers in a Bamboo Thicket). As legend has it, Kitahara's brewery came to be known as "Shichiken" from the splendid transom pieces that still adorn the Kitahara home to this day.
At the time, Shichiken sake was known by its trade name, Onakaya.
The Kitahara home is famous for once having accommodated the Emperor Meiji, who spent a night there while traveling through the prefecture. The home remains preserved much as it was during the Emperor Meiji's famous visit in June 1880, and has been designated as a historical site by the Japanese government.
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