Hakkaisan Brewery
About Uonuma
The Uonuma region of Niigata Prefecture is home to Hakkaisan Brewery. While it is known for its long Winter months, it is also marked distinctly by its access to soft snowmelt water used for sake brewing.
What is a Yukimuro?
A yukimuro is a natural refrigerator made of a large mound of snow covered with rice straw as insulation that was used in the past to keep perishables fresh. An ancient Japanese history book called the “Nihonshoki” (8th century) recorded the use of a yukimuro to store ice for the imperial family. Yukimuro were a common sight in the snowy areas of Japan until electric refrigerators became widely available in the 1960s.