Kaba Sake Brewery — Restaurant in Hida

For the Discerning Mind and Palate: Discovering Sake at Kaba Shuzojo

If you're visiting the Hida region and wish to understand Japanese sake not just as a drink but as a cultural language — Kaba Shuzojo is where your journey should begin. Forget the noise of gold medals and global wine competitions. In Japan, the most profound things are often whispered, not shouted.

Kaba Shuzojo, makers of the quietly revered Shiramayumi label, represent a different standard — one rooted in integrity, humility, and depth of craft. Ask any long-time Hida resident which sake they actually drink at home, and chances are the answer will not be the famous brands on posters. It will be Shiramayumi. There’s a reason for that, and it has little to do with prestige.

Here, the sake is honest. No theatrical flourishes, no superficial smoothness crafted to please casual tourists. This is sake with a spine — brewed from pristine mountain water, balanced with gentle acidity, and imbued with the subtle structure of true regional character. It pairs with food, but it also pairs with silence, thought, and honest conversation. It lingers, not as flavor alone, but as presence.

What sets Kaba apart is not just the product, but the people. Visiting the brewery feels less like a tour and more like entering a dialogue — about seasonality, about precision without pretension, about the ethics of taste. You are not being sold a beverage; you are being welcomed into a philosophy.

So if you're looking for a souvenir, go elsewhere. But if you're seeking a meaningful encounter with Japan’s sake heritage — the kind that speaks to both your intellect and your senses — this is the place. Kaba Shuzojo doesn’t offer you status. It offers you substance. And in that, it may be the most quietly extraordinary sake experience in all of...

This brewery is one of my favorite around this area. Because they produce very nice sake and are one of the few which still give you the chance to taste for free their brands, but only in Japanese! I live in Takayama and every time I come here in Furukawa I buy or taste some sake from Kaba! I like their sake because is smooth a little bit dry not too sweet. And of course they have a variety so you can match the one that suits you best! Highly recommended. Amico del solevante local guide in...

I love the sake here. We were eating dinner at the shabu shabu place in Hida Furukawa. I loved the sake offered here and before I knew it, the owner of the restaurant had called the sake brewery, and two bottles arrived...