Sake Pilgrimage · 酒蔵巡礼JA
Mutsu Province · 陸奥国
奉醸 陸奥国塩竈 浦霞 塩竈 御酒 創業 享保九年 — Founded 1724 — 塩竈神社御用達 三百年 令和八年皐月吉日 禅 塩竈
浦 霞

Urakasumi

— The Official Sake of Shiogama Shrine —
Audio Guide
Urakasumi — One Minute of Stillness
Three centuries beside the shrine of the salt-makers
0:00−:−−
Drink with oysters from Matsushima Bay, ten minutes south.
Soul of the Kura
Three hundred years ago, in 1724,
the head priest of Shiogama Shrine asked a brewer
to create a sake offering worthy of the kami.

The Saura family brewed it, and have brewed it still —
every year, without break,
a single bottle delivered to the shrine each new year.

Sake here is not a drink first.
It is an offering, that happens also to be a drink.
Characteristics
Founded 1724 by the Saura family in Shiogama, Miyagi —
the salt-port town that gave the famous shrine its name.
Created from the start as the official offering sake to Shiogama Jinja,
a duty the brewery has performed for three hundred years.
Quiet, balanced, gently dry — built for oysters from Matsushima Bay.
Beloved by Tohoku for centuries, exported globally only since the 1980s.
Reasons to Visit
Tasting Etiquette
  1. Visit the shrine first.
    It is the older of the two — and the older one is honoured first.
  2. Try Junmai Ginjo Zen at 12°C.
    Cold opens the bottle's quiet shrine-water character.
  3. Pair with shellfish, never red meat.
    The brewery was built around oyster country.
  4. Speak quietly in the kura.
    A working brewery beside a shrine carries that atmosphere.
  5. Bring home a small bottle as omiki.
    Sake offered first to a kami, then enjoyed at home — the original tradition.
Visit & Tasting
📍
Address
2-19 Hon-machi, Shiogama-shi, Miyagi 985-0052
🚄
Access
JR Senseki Line → Hon-Shiogama Station → 10 min walk
🕐
Hours
10:00–17:00
📅
Closed
Sundays · year-end
🥢
Tasting
Free tasting in store
📞
Reservation
Walk-in OK · Tour by reservation
🇬🇧
English
Limited
— Facilities —
🅿️ParkingYes
🚻RestroomYes
🏷️ShopYes
🚶Walk-inOK
🗺 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 Urakasumi — stay nearby, get there, taste with a guide, or take a bottle home.

🏨Stay Near the Kura

Booking.comMiyagi Shiogama AgodaMiyagi Shiogama

🚄Getting There

KlookJR Pass KlookMiyagi Shiogama transfers

🍶Sake Tours & Tastings

ViatorMiyagi Shiogama sake tours GetYourGuideSake tasting

🍵Sake Vessels & Bottles

AmazonUrakasumi bottles AmazonTokkuri & ochoko

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Urakasumi Zen Junmai Ginjo
Junmai Ginjo · 60% polish
The flagship. Quiet, balanced, gently dry — the bottle the brewery would offer to the kami.
Urakasumi Junmai
Junmai · all-purpose
The everyday Tohoku bottle. Soft, food-loving, perfect with grilled fish.
Urakasumi Shrine Reserve
Junmai Daiginjo · annual offering
A small allocation of the same recipe presented to Shiogama Jinja. Sold only at the brewery.
Recommended Pairings
Pair With Pilgrimage
⛩
Ichinomiya of Mutsu Province
★ Adjacent

Shiogama Jinja

鹽 竈 神 社

The first-rank shrine of ancient Mutsu — and one of the most sacred sites of northern Japan.
Enshrines Shiotsuchi-no-Oji-no-Kami, who taught these coasts the art of salt-making.
The brewery sits a five-minute walk from the shrine gates.
For three hundred years, Urakasumi has been the official offering sake.
Of all sake-shrine pairings, none is more direct.

Visit the Shrine →
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