Shonan Beer

To talk about Shonan Beer, you first have to know about Kumazawa Sake Brewery. It was founded in 1872, Meiji 5, and it is the only brewery left in the Shonan area.

The sixth-generation brewery head, Mokichi Kumazawa, went out of his way to find a brewmaster from Germany in 1996 and bring him to Chigasaki. From there, they went through trial and error to create "Shonan Beer." A sake brewery incorporating German techniques like that is not something you see every day.

And they got results too. Their German-style dark beer called "Schwarz" won gold at the 2008 World Beer Cup. A Japanese brewery taking gold in the German-style dark beer category at a world competition is pretty thrilling. They now make about 40 different varieties a year.

Everything is brewed with underground water from the Tanzawa mountain range, and because it's unfiltered and unpasteurized, the yeast is still alive. And the amazing thing is, it's not just about the beer. The grounds are like another world. There's brewery cuisine "Tensei," renovated from a sake brewery building from the Taisho era; "MOKICHI TRATTORIA," built from a 450-year-old traditional house relocated here; and "mokichi cafe," a traditional house brought over from Aomori over the course of eight years...

They even have a bakery and a sausage workshop on the grounds, and every spring they hold an event called "Sakagura Fest" with sake, food, and music. It's truly amazing how a brewery in Chigasaki has built such a rich cultural world.