SHIRAFUJI: SEATTLE’S 375-YEAR-OLD SAKE BREWERY
LOG LINE: After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake causes a disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the 21st generation of the Tomisawa family is forced to abandon their over 300-year-old sake brewery in a matter of minutes. Now in Seattle, WA, and with American-grown sake rice, the brother and sister duo aims to continue their 300-year-old tradition and shape their own American dream into “Seattle’s local sake.”.
The Tomisawa Sake Brewery Co. Ltd. was established around 1650 by Tomisawa Riemon and operated as a sake brewery for over 300 years in Futaba Town, Fukushima Prefecture. However, in 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake caused a tsunami, leading to a disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. As a result, the Tomisawa family was forced to abandon their brewery and home in a matter of minutes.
After the disaster, the family attempted to revive their brewery in Japan. However, due to various regulations, they had to give up on their revival plans, and it seemed as though the Tomisawa Sake Brewery would have to bring its 300-year history to an end.
Mari Tomisawa, the 21st generation head’s sister, refusing to let Shirafuji’s long lineage of craftsmen end with her, moved her family to Woodinville, Seattle. She felt a connection to the city’s beautiful autumn scenery and sensed the spirit of her hometown which had been lost due to the earthquake.
In Woodinville, they collaborated with a local Seattle architect and built a sake brewery with locally sourced materials, labeling it “Made in Seattle.” Here this unyielding generation uses American-grown sake rice from Arkansas to continue their 300-year-old tradition and shape their own American dream into “Seattle’s local sake.”.