SHIMA BREWERY

Did you know SHIMA BREWERY opened in Shima in January 2025? It's a brewery at Kintetsu's Ugata Station, and it's the first base in a region south of Ise in Mie Prefecture that had never had a brewery or sake brewery before.

Exactly. You can drink freshly brewed beer in the taproom while looking over the brewing equipment. And the brewers are an impressive lineup. Masakazu Nakanishi is a veteran with 27 years in brewing, having spent 17 years at Isekadoya Brewery and 10 years at Y.MARKET BREWING. He's from Mie Prefecture and has come back home.

The other brewer, Atsushi Kimura, originally worked in sales, then became captivated by craft beer and jumped into brewing. After training at Yamato Brewing, he moved to Shima. Director Yoshifumi Fujiwara spent six years turning this project from an idea into reality.

And the beer itself is fascinating too. There's a limited release called "Isobue Black IPA," and it's inspired by the local ama diver culture, using abalone shells in the brewing process. Apparently it helps bring out the malt character. It's a 6% Black IPA.

The regular lineup centers on three beers: Golden Ale, Cold IPA, and Pale Lager, and they pursue "drinkability" that never gets old no matter how many glasses you have. They also use rice from local farmers, and they're trying to express Shima's land, surrounded by sea and mountains, through beer.