Tedorigawa ─ The Sake of "The Birth of Sake"

Audio Guide

Tedorigawa — One Minute of Stillness

A brewery whose work the world watched, in a film

0:00−:−−

Drink as the brewers do — quietly, slowly, with the long winter outside.

Soul of the Kura

Six months of winter.
Brewers from the Noto peninsula come down to Hakusan,
leaving their families until spring.
They sleep in the kura. They sing as they wash the rice.

A film crew followed them for one full season.
"The Birth of Sake" was released in 2015,
and the world saw, perhaps for the first time,
what it actually takes.

Characteristics

Founded 1870 by the Yoshida family
in the village of Hakusan, at the foot of Mt. Hakusan —
one of Japan's three holy mountains.
The brewery's hand-built craft was filmed in 2015 for the documentary
"The Birth of Sake," which premiered at Tribeca and SXSW
and introduced traditional sake brewing to the global cinema audience.
Pure, balanced, snowmelt-driven — pure mountain water made drinkable.

Reasons to Visit

壱
Visit the brewery you may already have watched
"The Birth of Sake" (2015) made Tedorigawa the global face of traditional brewing.
弐
See Mt. Hakusan up close
One of Japan's three holy mountains — Fuji, Tate, Haku. The brewery is in the foothills.
参
Pair with Shirayama Hime Jinja
The first-rank shrine of ancient Kaga, perched at the head of the Tedorigawa river — the brewery's namesake.
四
Drive on to Kanazawa
Edo-era teahouses, Kenrokuen garden, gold-leaf workshops — 30 minutes north.
五
Try Kaga vegetable cuisine
15 native heritage vegetables — the gentle Tedorigawa is built for them.

Tasting Etiquette

Watch the film first if you can.
"The Birth of Sake" turns the bottle into a story before you open it.
Try the Yoshidagura U series.
The brewery's modern line, where the next-generation brewer experiments freely.
Drink at 12°C, then warm gently.
A snowmelt sake reveals different layers across temperature.
Pair with Kaga vegetables, not seafood first.
Sweet kaga-renkon and golden lotus root flatter the brewery's structure.
Carry a bottle on the train to Kanazawa.
It tastes better the closer you are to the mountain.

Visit & Tasting

📍

Address

ヘ-46-1 Yasuyoshi, Hakusan-shi, Ishikawa 929-0314

🚄

Access

JR Hokuriku → Komatsu Station → 30 min taxi

🕐

Hours

9:00–17:00

📅

Closed

Year-end / New Year

🥢

Tasting

Paid tasting · shop

📞

Reservation

Tour by reservation

🇬🇧

English

Limited

— Facilities —

🅿️ParkingYes

🚻RestroomYes

🏷️ShopYes

📅TourReserve

🗺 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 Tedorigawa — stay nearby, get there, taste with a guide, or take a bottle home.

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

Yoshidagura U 吉田蔵 U

Junmai Ginjo · next-generation modern line

The seventh-generation brewer's own creation — bright, juicy, food-loving. The future of the brewery.

Tedorigawa Daiginjo Meika 大吟醸名流

Daiginjo · 35% polish

The brewery's most refined bottle. Pristine, structural, a long-cellar potential.

Recommended Pairings

◆Kaga renkon (lotus root) with golden miso
◆Treasure boat sashimi (Kanazawa style)
◆Jibu-ni (duck and wheat-gluten stew) — Kaga heritage dish
◆Snow crab in winter

Pair With Pilgrimage

⛩

Ichinomiya of Kaga Province

Shirayama Hime Jinja

白山比咩神社

The first-rank shrine of ancient Kaga,
and the head shrine of every Hakusan shrine in Japan.
Enshrines the kami of holy Mt. Hakusan herself —
the same mountain whose snowmelt becomes Tedorigawa.
Visit before tasting and you have closed the circle from peak to bottle.

Visit the Shrine →

Tedorigawa

🏨Stay Near the Kura

🚄Getting There

🍶Sake Tours & Tastings

🍵Sake Vessels & Bottles

Shirayama Hime Jinja