Kyoto Prefecture is in volume the second sake producing prefecture in Japan (71,286kl or 16.0% - figures 2015) - after Hyogo (28.5%) and before Niigata (8.4%). That is thanks to the breweries in the southern part of Kyoto city, in Fushimi, which are good for 90% of the total output. There are 43 active breweries in the whole of Kyoto Prefecture, of which 23 in Fushimi (numbers based on membership of local Sake Brewers Association). Except for the huge, nationally operating Gekkeikan and Shochikubai (Takara Shuzo), these are mostly smaller breweries that have dedicated themselves to brewing premium sake.

Fushimi is in the first place famous for its excellent water: until the early Meiji-period, it was called "Fushimizu," alluding to the underground water (fusui) that flows down from nearby Mt. Momoyama and fills the wells of the district with delicate and mild water. That water is honored in the Gokonomiya Shrine ("Shrine of the Honorable Fragrance"), which according to legend was so named when in 861 fragrant water gushed up from a well that appeared in this area - the water even healed the sick.
[Old sake breweries in Fushimi along the Horikawa canal]
The sake brewed in Kyoto has always been of high quality - after all, it was destined to be consumed by such demanding customers as the imperial court and its nobles. Important technological innovations, such as the isolation of koji spores and use of a yeast starter can also be written on the account of...