MATSUI - KAGURA 'MIDNIGHT BLUE' JUNMAI NAMAZAKE

Brewery Information

PICK-UP ONLY This sake is "raw" and has never been pasteurized, making it extremely delicate due to its freshness.

Matsui Shuzo is a historic sake brewery from Kyoto, founded in 1726, during the 11th year of the Kyōhō era. The brewery is located in a remarkable part of Kyoto, surrounded by the natural beauty of the 36 Higashiyama mountains and the Kamo River, with the Kyoto Imperial Palace and Shimogamo Shrine nearby, and Mount Daimonji to the east.

After a long period of inactivity, partly caused by changes in the underground water due to construction works in Kyoto, the brewery was restarted in 2009. Today, Matsui Shuzo is led by Jiemon Matsui, the 15th generation, President, Kuramoto, and Tōji of the brewery.

Jiemon Matsui did not grow up as the classic "brewery owner's son." He studied law and was about to pursue a legal career when his father asked him to return to Kyoto and revive the family brewery. One sentence convinced him:

"There are many people who can become lawyers, but only you can make the sake of Matsui Brewery."

From 2008, Jiemon Matsui learned the art of brewing at Kizakura in Fushimi. Later, he was guided by Ryozo Michitaka, an experienced tōji with more than forty years of expertise. In 2012, Jiemon Matsui became the tōji of Matsui Shuzo himself. Since then, he has combined nearly 300 years of family history with a modern, precise, and approachable vision of sake.

The brewery itself is compact. With only 130 m² of production space, Matsui Shuzo even became an example for other breweries dreaming of restarting in a limited space. Today, the brewery produces around 300 koku per year, approximately 54,000 liters, with a strong focus on precision, hygiene, and manual craftsmanship. Technically, everything is highly refined. Matsui Shuzo works with temperature-controlled tanks, a stainless steel koji room, and an exceptional focus on hygiene and quality control. Machines are not used to make the work easier, but to improve quality. Craftsmanship remains central: important steps, such as carrying steamed rice, are still done by hand.

For brewing, Matsui Shuzo uses soft water from a source about 50 meters deep, with a character reminiscent of the famous soft brewing water of Fushimi. This combination of soft water, small-scale production, handcraft, and precise temperature control forms the foundation of Matsui Shuzo's elegant Kyoto style.

The Kagura range is one of the brewery's most recognizable lines. Kagura represents a modern interpretation of Kyoto sake: refined, aromatic, approachable, and made with great technical precision. With Kagura, Jiemon Matsui aims to create sake in which both aroma and flavor come together at a high level—the elegant fragrance of a ginjo style, but with the depth, texture, and rice expression of a junmai.

The slogan of Kagura, "Bishu Nichirin no Gotoshi," can be loosely translated as "delicious as the sun." It refers not only to the bright, radiant style of the sake, but also to Matsui's sustainable approach: an important part of the energy used for production is generated through solar power.

Kagura Blue is a Junmai Namazake brewed with Kyoto's famous sake rice Iwai, polished to 65%. For this sake, the newly developed Kyoto yeast Kyo no Koi is used, making Kagura Blue a true Kyoto sake: Kyoto rice, Kyoto yeast, and Kyoto craftsmanship.

Thanks to Yodan-jikomi 四段仕込み, a four-stage brewing process in which an extra fourth addition is made during the main fermentation, this sake gains extra depth, natural rice sweetness, and a fuller body. The long fermentation at ultra-low temperature creates clear aromas, fresh fruity notes, and a beautifully balanced finish.

Kagura Blue, also known in Japan as Kagura Ruri / 瑠璃 or "Midnight Blue," refers to the deep blue color of the bottle. This color was not chosen at random: Matsui Shuzo uses bottle color to express the style of the sake.

With Kagura Blue, Ruri stands for depth, richness, and intensity. This sake is fuller, more rice-driven, and more aromatic than Kagura Clear, with more texture, lively nama notes, and a more powerful expression of Iwai rice.

Kagura 'Midnight Blue' is refined enough for the sake enthusiast, yet also especially accessible for those discovering sake for the first time. This fits perfectly within Jiemon Matsui's vision: to make sake that is technically precise, aromatic, and rich, but above all immediately pleasurable in the glass.

Anyone visiting Matsui Shuzo should not forget one of their famous T-shirts with the text "Multiple Parallel Fermentation," a playful reference to the unique brewing process that makes sake so special.