My Wakayama Travelogue

Arriving at Heiwa Shuzo as the sun was setting

Before visiting Wakayama last August, the only concrete thing I seemed to know about it was that they were famous for their ume. In my mind, Wakayama resembled something of a flat landscape in a video game with large fruits dotting the horizon.

When the opportunity arose that I could visit Wakayama, I jumped on it. This was a place that didn’t really stand out in the guidebooks, or as a popular Golden Week destination – exactly the kind of places I like visiting these days.

I landed at the Kansai Airport, which is the closest international airport coming from the U.S. to Wakayama. From there, it was about an hour drive south to Wakayama City.  Through the windows of our minivan, it looked like a typical Japanese third-tier city. Hair salons, pachinko slot parlours and Aeons abound with a sea of mamachari bikes parked along the streets. As soon as I arrived, we were off to Heiwa Shuzo. 

Heiwa Shuzo is located in Kainan City. The drive to the brewery took us along the shimmering Kishi River. Shrines, bamboo, and pine was beautiful in the hot sunset of August, especially in the comfort of a cool, air-conditioned van. We arrived at Heiwa Shuzo to a familiar scene: forklifts carrying boxes of pristinely packed sake bottles and a sugidama hanging under the awning of a large gateway. When I got out of the car, the humid energy of a Japanese summer hit me like a wave.

It was great to meet Head Brewer Hidemachi Shibata in person, as our last contact was our Zoom brewery tour during the pandemic. Originally the brewery was called Taniguchi Shuzo making sake for its local community since 1928. After the war, the brewery was renamed as Heiwa (Peace) Shuzo (Brewery) with a “desire to brew sake in a peaceful era.” In addition to making sake, they make fruit sakes, umeshu, and beer. Wakayama is known for its ume, mandarins, and yuzu, and Heiwa Shuzo takes advantage of this by releasing unique sakes that are infused with whole fruit.

Hidemachi Shibata, the toji at Heiwa Shuzo

Shibata runs the brewery a bit like a graduate program. Instead of having each person specialize in a task like koji-making, rice steaming, or bottling, each team member takes charge of a sake being made from beginning to end. That way, that person can revise anything that seems amiss right away. He adds “If everyone knows how to do everything, I can be gone, and sake production will keep going.”

Level Two members get to enjoy a very limited sake bottle from Heiwa called Kid Agara Junmai. Agara in Wakayama dialect means us. It is their only sake that uses sake rice grown on the brewery’s estate - “made by us.”

The next morning at the hotel breakfast buffet, I was greeted with a Wakayama dream: mountains of umeboshi.

Mounds of umeboshi at breakfast

After breakfast, I summoned enough courage to walk across the street to Wakayama Castle Park. The oppressive heat was intense, even at 8am. 

Gateway to Wakayama Castle

I spent the next four hours in a typical Japanese meeting room, with the blinds shut. There, I did what I call JSSD (Japanese Supplier Speed Dating). A blur of 20 minute meetings ensue resulting in a large stack of business cards when it’s all over.

A great way to recover from hours of JSSD is to have ice cream as often as humanly possible. After lunch, I had Wakayama Mandarin soft cream. Creamy with a hint of tartness, but mostly soft and sweet, I feel like I had arrived.

Wakayama Mikan Soft Serve

I was ready for the next adventure – and ume farm. 

We were bumbling along the Kishiwakayama and Tanabe Ume Groves in the Kamihaya district in the trusty minivan, when it became clear that it was too hot to even get out of the car. Our destination was Hamada Farms, and the folks there were calling us in the car telling us that it would be too hazardous to follow through with the original plan of touring the orchards. Zannen (too bad)!

At Hamada Farms’ ume orchard

We reached their stylish, modern house and sampled through their one, three, and five year umeshus. While sipping on umeshu, they told us that all of their umeshu is single origin. That means all of the ume is harvested at their farm. Additionally, they line the bases of the trees with blue tarp and wait for the ume to ripen and drop naturally. Because the ume are ripe and delicate, they need to soak their ume the day they drop from the tree. This makes for an especially fruity flavor with enhanced aromatics. You’ll find Hamada Farms’ umeshu on our shelves this month.Non-alcoholic umeshu at Hamada Farms

My less than 48 hour visit to Wakayama ended at Shirahama Onsen. Young lovers and families enjoying the scenic sunsets over the ocean could have been a location for Terrace House. Shirahama Onsen

The next time I go to Wakayama, I’d love to take more time there investigating the history of Wakayama, hiking the Kumano Kodo. My last name is Kumano and I was told that my grandpa’s family can be traced to Hiroshima, but maybe my origins are in Wakayama. I may never know, but because of all of the Kumano imagery, I felt a special connection to this region. I even flew out of the Kumano Airport!  

Please read my full interview on our blog with Kokonoe Saika's Toshimitsu Saika to learn more.

Kanpai.

Yoko (Co-Founder, Umami Mart)

Saika Yamada Nishiki Junmai Daiginjo
Kokonoe Saika (Wakayama, Japan)
Seimaibuai: Yamada Nishiki 50% , SMV: -4, Acidity: 1.5, Yeast: 1801

Enjoy generous ginjo aromas of apple, honeysuckle, and melon in this semi-sweet junmai daiginjo made with Yamada Nishiki rice grown in Shiga Prefecture. While we usually sip our daiginjos chilled, we urge you to try this warm to unlock its umami. Pair this sake with salmon nigiri sushi. The rice should preferably be dressed with akazu (red rice vinegar, see interview with Saika on page 2). This pairing has been scientifically analyzed by the Taste and Aroma Strategy Research Institute! Please read our interview with Toshimitsu Saika, president of Kokonoe Saika here.

Heiwa Shuzo (Wakayama, Japan)
Seimaibuai: Estate grown Yamada Nishiki 80%, SMV: +1.5, Acidity: 1.8, Yeast: 7

This special bottle had to be pre-ordered about 9 months in advance for Gumi members. Why? That’s because the rice used for this sake is grown on-site at the brewery and they have limited space to grow that rice. Agara means us, and the name of the bottle suggests that it was “made by us.” See the photos on the bottle that tracks the process from beginning to end. Barely polished at 80%, this sake has lots of umami and acidity. Aromas of creme fraiche and raisins greet you, and the juicy bitterness is reminiscent of red wine. The ample flavor profile of this sake is best enjoyed at room temperature or warm and paired with foods full of umami including clam pasta and white goat cheddar. It also made sauteed green beans taste sweeter.

I took this photo of the rice paddy at Heiwa Shuzo in August 2024

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