Masumi ─ The Birthplace of Yeast No.7

Audio Guide

Masumi — One Minute of Stillness

A microbe from this kura now ferments most of Japan's sake

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Drink beside Lake Suwa if you can — the water in the bottle came from the same basin.

Soul of the Kura

In 1946, scientists came to a small Suwa kura
and isolated a single living strain of yeast
from a tank of fermenting Masumi.

They named it Kyokai No.7 — Yeast No.7.

Today most of Japan's premium sake is made with descendants
of that one wild microbe — born in this brewery,
beside the lake whose ice the kami of Suwa walks across each winter.

Characteristics

Founded 1662 beside Lake Suwa, Nagano,
the high mountain lake whose ice ridges are said to be the footprints
of the Suwa kami crossing in winter.
Birthplace of Kyokai No.7 — the yeast strain that, since 1946,
has become the most widely used sake yeast in Japan.
The brewery's microbes still ferment the kura's own bottles —
and those of countless other breweries across the country.

Reasons to Visit

壱
Drink the original Yeast No.7 sake
A sip from the cradle of the strain that quietly defined modern Japan.
弐
Visit Cella Masumi tasting room
Beautifully renovated brewery shop on Suwa Lake — paired flights of every Masumi label.
参
Time it for Onbashira Festival (every 6 years, next 2028)
Massive fir trees pulled down mountainsides by hand — Suwa's most legendary ritual.
四
Pair with Suwa Taisha
One of Japan's oldest shrines — Shinano's first-rank, four sub-shrines around Lake Suwa.
五
See "omiwatari" winter ice ridges
When the lake freezes hard enough, ice cracks form a ridge — said to be the path of the Suwa kami.

Tasting Etiquette

Try the historic 7-Yeast bottle alongside the modern range.
The same yeast, 80 years apart — the family resemblance is striking.
Drink at slightly above cold — 12°C ideal.
Yeast No.7's signature aromatics close below 10°C.
Use a wine glass for the daiginjo.
Cella Masumi serves them this way; follow their lead.
Pair with Shinshu mountain food.
Soba, basashi, mountain mushrooms — Nagano cooking suits Masumi well.
Visit the shrine first.
Suwa Taisha is older than the brewery by many centuries — the older comes first.

Visit & Tasting

📍

Address

1-16 Motomachi, Suwa-shi, Nagano 392-0007

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Access

JR Chuo Line → Kami-Suwa Station → 7 min walk

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Hours

10:00–17:30

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Closed

Tuesdays

🥢

Tasting

Paid tasting · Cella Masumi café

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Reservation

Walk-in OK · brewery tour seasonal

🇬🇧

English

Yes

— Facilities —

🅿️ParkingYes

🚻RestroomYes

🏷️Cella ShopYes

☕CaféYes

🗺 Directions 🌐 Official Site 📍 Open in Maps 📜 All Breweries

※ Hours, fees and contact details may change seasonally — please confirm on the brewery's official site before your visit.

Signature Labels

Complete the Sake Journey

Arrange your visit to Masumi — stay nearby, get there, taste with a guide, or take a bottle home.

* Some links contain affiliate advertising. Commissions support this site's operation.

Masumi Yumedono 夢殿

Junmai Daiginjo · 35% polish

The brewery's prestige bottle. Ethereal, layered, deeply structured — multiple Gold Medal Sakekai years.

Masumi Nanago 七號

Junmai Ginjo · brewed only with Yeast No.7

A modern bottle named after the brewery's most famous discovery. Bright, generous, historically self-aware.

Recommended Pairings

◆Shinshu soba (cold, with wasabi)
◆Basashi — Nagano horse-meat sashimi
◆Wakasagi (lake smelt) tempura from Suwa Lake
◆Oyaki — pan-fried mountain dumplings

Pair With Pilgrimage

⛩

Ichinomiya of Shinano Province

★ Onbashira Festival

Suwa Taisha

諏訪大社

The first-rank shrine of ancient Shinano,
and one of the oldest shrines in Japan.
Four sub-shrines ring Lake Suwa, enshrining Takeminakata-no-Kami
and his consort Yasakatome — the deities of wind and water.
Every six years they pull massive fir trees down the mountains by hand.
The brewery sits two kilometres from the Lower Shrine.

Visit the Shrine →

Masumi

🏨Stay Near the Kura

🚄Getting There

🍶Sake Tours & Tastings

🍵Sake Vessels & Bottles

Suwa Taisha