Kuriyama Craft

Kuriyama Craft was founded in April 2025 by Shoma Ishii in Kuriyama Town, and his background is great. He’s from Kawaguchi, Saitama, and worked in nutrition management and cooking in the Kanto region, but since childhood he had admired Hokkaido from family trips there.

He came to Kuriyama Town in 2016 as a regional revitalization cooperation volunteer. There, he was apparently shocked after tasting local farm products. He said, 'It had a powerful flavor, as if the scent of earth and the sun had been condensed into it.' Even after his three-year term ended, he couldn’t bring himself to leave, and in 2018 he opened the beer bar 'Kurito Kura' with Takeshi Takahashi, also a cooperation volunteer.

Right. They drew support from both Japan and overseas. It’s a brick building with 15 seats, designed by a local architect and built with residents helping paint it. After that, COVID reduced customer traffic, and they started the brewery in 2025 because they wanted to deliver beer to people who couldn’t come.

The flagship, Matsukaze 322, is unique. It’s a golden ale, but they add 1.8 liters of sake from nearby Kobayashi Sake Brewery to a 300-liter brew. The sake is added as-is after completion. Heating drives off the alcohol, but the umami of the rice and a subtle ginjo aroma remain.

Kobayashi Sake Brewery is Hokkaido's oldest sake brewery, founded in 1878. It’s the fusion of that historic brewery’s sake and a new brewery. The number 322 in the name comes from the brewery address, Matsukaze 3-22. ABV 5.5%, IBU 22. It’s recommended with Japanese food or natural cheese. They also have playful names like the IPA 'InsPirAtion' and the weizen 'People Call It Weizen.'

I like that they provide spent malt to a local livestock farmer as feed, too. Resources circulate within the community. Ishii's idea of 'quiet luxury' is that, rather than flashiness, it's a subtle quality that makes you stop and wonder, 'Huh, what is this?' That's the charm big breweries don't have.