Tengumai ─ The Yamahai Master of Hakusan

Audio Guide

Tengumai — One Minute of Stillness

A bold yamahai sake from the foothills of holy Hakusan

0:00−:−−

Drink warm in winter; room temperature in summer.

Soul of the Kura

"Tengu mai" — the dance of the long-nosed mountain spirits.
The legend says tengu came down from holy Hakusan
and danced beside the brewery on still nights.

The brewery is calmer than that.
For 200 years, the Shata family has practised yamahai
without compromise — keeping wild yeast alive
through the speed-fermenting century.
Today, every modern yamahai bottle owes them a debt.

Characteristics

Founded 1823 by the Shata family in the Hakusan foothills, Ishikawa.
One of the first kura to revive yamahai brewing in the Showa era,
at a time when the rest of the industry had abandoned the slow method for speed.
Bold, structural, savoury — the brewery's name comes from the legend
of tengu spirits dancing beside the kura on quiet mountain nights.

Reasons to Visit

壱
Drink the brewery that revived yamahai
A pioneer of the modern wild-yeast revival; nearly extinct method preserved here.
弐
Visit Mt. Hakusan in summer
One of Japan's three holy mountains — same source water as the brewery.
参
Stop in Kanazawa nearby
Edo teahouses, gold-leaf workshops, Kenrokuen garden — 30 min north of the brewery.
四
Pair with Shirayama Hime Jinja
Kaga's first-rank shrine — the head shrine of all Hakusan shrines in Japan.
五
Eat Kaga vegetables in autumn
Heritage Kaga vegetables paired with warm yamahai — a Kaga winter ritual.

Tasting Etiquette

Drink warm in winter, cool in summer.
Yamahai is the most temperature-flexible style.
Pair with cooked food, not raw.
Yamahai answers char, miso, soy.
Use a small ceramic cup, not glass.
The savoury body benefits from the warmer ceramic mouthfeel.
Save bottles 2–5 years.
Yamahai improves with age more than most styles.
Drink slowly. Yamahai opens after the third sip.
Quick drinkers miss the umami arc.

Visit & Tasting

📍

Address

2-30 Kashima-machi, Hakusan-shi, Ishikawa 924-0843

🚄

Access

Hokuriku Shinkansen → Komatsu → 25 min taxi

🕐

Hours

9:00–17:00

📅

Closed

Sundays

🥢

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

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

Tengumai Yamahai Junmai 山廃純米

Yamahai Junmai · the brewery's signature

The flagship. Bold, structural, lactic-savoury — the bottle that defined modern yamahai.

Tengumai Junmai Daiginjo Yumegokoroe 夢心純米大吟醸

Junmai Daiginjo · 50% polish

A more refined sister bottle. Polished yamahai — structural body, daiginjo aromatics.

Tengumai Goko-Gen 五考限定

Yamahai Junmai · long-aged release

A reserve label aged in temperature-controlled cellar. Honey, mushroom, sherry overtones.

Recommended Pairings

◆Jibu-ni (duck and wheat-gluten stew, Kaga heritage)
◆Kaga renkon (lotus root) with golden miso
◆Aged Comté or Parmigiano
◆Snow crab with vinegar miso

Pair With Pilgrimage

⛩

Ichinomiya of Kaga Province

Shirayama Hime Jinja

白山比咩神社

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

Visit the Shrine →

Tengumai

🏨Stay Near the Kura

🚄Getting There

🍶Sake Tours & Tastings

🍵Sake Vessels & Bottles

Shirayama Hime Jinja