When he’s not taking guests around Iwase or contemplating the next house to add to his burgeoning collection, Ryuichiro Masuda is equally busy with the business of making Masuda Shuzo’s premium Masuizumi sake. It’s a familiar name seen in top restaurants around the world, such as Narisawa in Tokyo and Waku Ghin, the Singapore restaurant of chef Tetsuya Wakuda.

Derived from the family name, “Masuizumi” has an auspicious meaning that’s loosely translated as “a spring full of celebration, honour and prosperity”.

When the brewery (founded in 1893) was still under the helm of Masuda’s father, it produced just five types of sake, such as junmai shu and honjozo. Today, there’s a mind-boggling variety of over 30, and all distinctively different.

As times have changed, so too has the taste of Masuizumi sake from the previous generation. It’s lighter now, and less karakuchi (dry), and all junmai, or made without the addition of brewer’s alcohol.

“We used to add alcohol (made from molasses) to make it dry. Alcohol is not a bad thing but it is not necessary,” Masuda says, explaining that it was used after World War II when rice was scarce. 

“But now we have more rice and even without alcohol, we can make karakuchi sake through strong fermentation, although it is different, with more umami and layers of flavour.”

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Masuda’s interest in, and familiarity with, the West and its customs has also taken the brewery in a new direction. When he was younger, he developed a taste for French wines and champagne, of which he has an enviable collection today. He learned wine-making techniques and also uses wine yeast to ferment rice, as well as burgundy and champagne barrels to age sake. 

He is also the consultant for Iwa 5, the sake made in Toyama by Richard Geoffroy, the former chef de cave of Dom Perignon. Other collaborations include those with champagne house Henri Giraud and Chivas Regal whisky. With the latter, he released the Masuizumi Link 8888 Chivas Junmai Daiginjo sake – matured in Chivas Regal casks, and named for both the number being a loop and the 8,888 km distance to the Scottish distillery.   

Bringing sake to the world

While Iwa 5 is associated with Richard Geoffrey, the champagne legend’s first three vintages were actually brewed at Masuda Shuzo.

Assemblage 1, 2 and 3 were made at the Higashi-Iwase brewery before its stunning Kengo Kuma-designed facility in the bucolic Shiraiwa village, about 25 km south-east of Toyama city, began operations in 2021. 

So why did Masuda join hands with a non-Japanese to create a new sake brand in the birthplace of nihonshu?

“I have always wanted to bring sake to the world but there are many barriers, especially in Europe where they don’t know about sake,” he explains. 

He speaks from personal experience, having attempted to introduce sake there in 1996. But that initial foray faltered when the Europeans mistook sake for Chinese rice wine, or baijiu, and assumed it was strong, distilled alcohol. But with Geoffrey’s credentials as cellar master of Dom Perignon for 28 years before retiring, he was seen as being able to bridge the gap between Japanese sake and the rest of the world.

Still, when it comes to his own personal philosophy about sake, which Masuda quips is “the king of medicine” – alluding to Toyama having one of the largest pharmaceutical industries in Japan – it is less about sake evangelism and more about its enjoyment. “I want to make sake that I can drink together with my friends, with a taste that makes you feel comfortable and relaxed, not for good sales.”

Among his favourite Masuizumi labels is the Masuizumi Platina (Platinum). This flagship sake is a nama or unpasteurised junmai daiginjo, slightly sweet on the palate with a dry finish. He says it is best with sashimi. It’s made with yamadanishiki, the premium rice from Hyogo favoured by sake brewers (Masuda Shuzo also uses rice from Toyama, such as yamadabo), polished to 35 per cent, where 65 per cent of the grain’s surface is removed. It has the freshness of a nama but is also elegant and ethereal, rich with a long finish. 

But even more exquisite is a version that few will get to savour because of its rarity. Denoted by two “Platina” words, in red and stamped on its label, it uses rice polished up to 17 per cent, meaning a whopping five-sixths of the grain has been taken off, leaving only the shinpaku or starchy core that imparts its aromatic and ultra-clean taste. Delicate with aromas of stone fruit and rice, it is the deliciously distinctive epitome of the Masuizumi brand.