사이오노사토

Saiounosato, meaning 'village of the Saio priestess,' takes its name from the Saio, the imperial princess who served as the Ise Shrine's representative at the Nonomiya Shrine in Saga, Kyoto, and this sake connects that ritual heritage to Tsuchiyama-cho in Koka, Shiga, near the old Tokaido highway route the Saio would travel. Matsuoka Shuzo, founded in 1886, produces this expression using the soft underground water of the Suzuka mountain region. The ceremonial name signals a sake of delicate, refined intent rooted in the cultural landscape of central Japan.