Hakkaisan Brewery: Snow-Aged Sake & Beer from Powder Mountain with Shoko Baba

In Episode 24 of the podcast we return to Niigata Prefecture and the heavy snow area of Minami-Uonuma. Readily accessible from Tokyo using the Joetsu Shinkansen to Echigo-Yuzawa Station, Minami-Uonuma is known throughout Japan for snow, rice and sake and it is here that we find one of the snow country’s best sake breweries, Hakkaisan. Established in 1922, Hakkaisan Brewery has been producing high quality sake for more than 100 years and to this today utilises traditional techniques including snow-aging.

In this episode I speak with Shoko Baba – a member of the brewery’s international sales team – about the heritage and pedigree of Hakkaisan including their celebrated snow-aged ‘Yukimuro’ sake. Our conversation delves into the importance of sake in the culture of both Niigata and more broadly, in Japan before moving onto Hakkaisan’s fantastic Rydeen Beer and their wonderful facility that you can visit in Minami-Uonuma.

Open all year round, Uonuma-no-Sato is comprised of multiple buildings including their sake and beer breweries, ‘Yukimuro’ snow storage facility, shops, restaurants and of course sake tasting and beer tap rooms. Only 40 minutes drive from Echigo-Yuzawa Station, Uonuma-no-Sato is a destination in its own right and well worth visiting at any time of year.

In the second half of the interview we also discuss Hakkaisan’s Niseko Distillery in Hokkaido. Established with a vision to produce some of Japan’s best whisky, Niseko Distillery is currently distilling and selling ‘Ohori’ gin while we wait for the chance to sample that whisky. Hakkaisan has also expanded operations to the United States opening Brooklyn Kura in Industry City in Brooklyn, New York – the first sake brewery to open in the city.

The brewery takes its name from nearby Mount Hakkai, most commonly referred to as Hakkaisan. Standing 1778 metres / 5834 feet in height, Hakkaisan is considered a sacred mountain and home to the little-known but fantastic Muikamachi Hakkaisan Ski Resort. The location of the mountain and ski resort subject it to heavy snowfall each winter making it an ideal destination for skiers and snowboarders wanting to dive into some truly deep powder without the crowds competing for it.

Serviced by an 80 person ropeway, the resort is dominated by a long advanced to intermediate run that drops back down to the base station, with a forest trail snaking its way down the mountain adjacent to, and often connecting with, the main run. The resort offers a maximum pitch of 38° with a decent 792 metres of vertical, which when the powder is deep, is challenging but great fun. As such, Muikamachi Hakkaisan is a resort best-suited to upper-intermediate and advanced skiers and boarders, and best-enjoyed on powder days

Given its reputation for big powder and being a bit challenging, and the fact you need to make a bit more effort to get there, Hakkaisan doesn’t draw many newbies nor the crowds, which is a big plus. Especially on weekdays you shouldn’t be sharing it with many people at all. It’s only 40 minutes drive from Echigo Yuzawa Station – around which you have the multiple resorts of Yuzawa along with Naeba and Kagura – making it well-suited to visitors with their own transport and wanting to hit up different resorts during their stay.

I’d like to thank both the brewery and Shoko for agreeing to speak with me. You can find more information via the websites and social media accounts below. All images other than those related to Muikamachi Hakkaisan Ski Resort are the property of Hakkaisan Brewery and cannot be used without their permission.

 
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Episode 23 / The God Bears of Northern Japan with David Laichtman / Sophia University