EMW (Shanghai) Trading Company Limited (EMW) is delighted to start its partnership with Sakura Masamune Co., Ltd. (Sakura Masamune) becoming the importer and distributor for Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
EMW has an import and distribution agreement and will begin distributing and selling Sakura Masamune across Greater China. Sakura Masamune is a historic family owned brewery known as the original “Masamune” Sake and as the origin of the Sake Brewing Association’s Yeast No. 1. Sakura Masamune produces its Sake using traditional production methods and techniques that have been cultivated since the Edo Period. “We are very excited to begin cooperation with this legendary family brewery”, said Edouard Duval, CEO of EMW. “I first met Mr. Yamamura Tazaemon at his brewery in Japan in 2019 and immediately understood the synergy and shared vision between us. EMW is built on partnerships with great family-owned wine estates and it was clear that we would be fortunate to represent this multi-generational historic sake brewery.”
“We feel much honored to cooperate with EMW, the amazing company which has established strong distribution network and business know how in Greater China, the country with undeveloped wine market at that time. We are really looking forward to the challenge of introducing sake, one of the Japanese traditional cultures, with EMW. Sakura Masamune Co., Ltd. is a long-established sake brewery, has continued brewing top quality sake for almost 400 years in Nada district, Hyogo, the largest producing area of sake in Japan since its first brewing sake in 1625,” said Mr. Yamamura Tazaemon. “We brew sake every day, with the rich natural environment and the inherited traditional skills. We would like to work together with EMW to develop the recognition and brand of sake to people all over the Greater China reflecting the network, knowledges and experiences in wine industry that EMW has.”
Sakura Masamune has over 400 years of history as a specialty sake in Kobe and Uosaki Village in Nada Region. Every bottle is hand-crafted with great care. The core value of the sake is quality, with emphasis on rice, water, technique, culture and constantly thriving to brew popular sake.
The word “Masamune” comes from the “Rinzaiseisho” in Buddhism. In ancient times formal Japanese pronunciation of Masamune was very close to the word sake and the brewery used Masamune as its name when it started production. The more famous the brewery became, the more imitators started to use “Masamune” as a symbol of high quality sake. In 1884, new trademark regulations were established and although “Masamune” was trademarked, as a result of the popular use of “Masamune” to refer to quality sake, the government decided to regard “Masamune” as a normal noun. Therefore, the brewery found it necessary to add the word “Sakura”, which is the national flower of Japan, and renamed itself “Sakura Masamune”. And that is the story of the origin of the brand.
Sakura Masamune has had many firsts in sake history and has made great contributions to the development of sake brewing. Important advances in quality began with the sixth-generation head of the Yamamura family who found a special underground spring – Miyamizu – in Hyogo Prefecture, Nishimiya City. He discovered the profound impact this type of water had on the quality of the sake, and along with progress in rice polishing, led to a great improvement in quality. Subsequently Sakura Masamune became famous all over Japan as a producer of very high quality sake.
In 1904, as a brewery with outstanding reputation, Sakura Masamune contributed their yeast to the Sake Brewing Association and it came the first edition yeast (Brewing Association Yeast No. 1) and was distributed to sake breweries all over Japan. This helped to improve the brewing quality of sake nationwide.
Sake Portfolio
Sakura Masamune Kinmare Junmaidaiginjo 40
Masamune Ginjo Genshu
Sakura Junmai
Yakimare Kiippon
Shumare Honjozo
EMW is a leading importer, distributor and brand builder in Greater China market, working closely with more than 90 leading family-owned estates from 16 countries around the world. EMW has an unequalled distribution network to top restaurants, hotels, wine shops, online VIP customers and an exclusive network of distribution covering over 160 cities in China. EMW has been awarded “Best Wine Importer” for nine consecutive years since 2011 by China Sommeliers Wine Challenge/Wine 100 Challenge.
Knight Hu, Sake Brand Manager Knight.Hu@emw-wines.com
Shanghai Office Address: Suite 202, No.664 Xinhua Road, Shanghai, China
