Kokebune Island and the Kokebune Brewery苔舟島と苔舟醸造所

Updated: October 6, Chōwa 137Page ID: 6803

Kokebune Island (Kokebune-jima) is a small, moss-covered island on Tenkyōgen. Walk deep into the island’s cave and you reach an underground lake glowing blue, where the Kokebune Brewery makes sake in a small storehouse on the shore. This season’s first pressing comes out in November.

The blue underground lake, stepping stones, the small storehouse with a veranda and brewing tools — The underground lake deep in the cave. Beyond the stepping stones is the Kokebune Brewery’s small storehouse

Overview
Kokebune Island
The cave and the underground lake
The Kokebune Brewery
The casks in the rock wall
The Blue Cave Hot Spring
Hekisui, a junmai daiginjo
The first pressing in November
Video
Getting there

Overview

Item	Details
Island	Kokebune Island (Kokebune-jima)
Location	Tenkyōgen, Tokomizu Town
Brewery	Kokebune Brewery (Kokebune Jōzōsho)
Signature sake	Hekisui, junmai daiginjo
First pressing	November (this season’s new sake)
Highlights	The moss path, the pond of koi and goldfish, the cave, the blue underground lake, the storehouse and brewing tools, the casks in the rock wall, the Blue Cave Hot Spring

Kokebune Island

From its top down to the sides of its cliffs, the island is covered in thick, soft moss. It is small and rounded, and all around it spreads the water of Tenkyōgen, reflecting the sky and clouds. From outside it looks like a quiet moss island; you cannot tell there is a brewery and a hot spring deep in the cave until you go in.

Boats tie up at the landing below the island’s cliffs. A narrow path climbs from there along a mossy valley, passing a clear, shallow pond where one large white koi and some small goldfish swim. At the end of the path is the wide mouth of the cave.

A narrow path climbing a moss-covered valley — The moss path up from the landing

A clear pond on the moss path, where a large white koi and small goldfish swim — The pond on the way, with a white koi and goldfish

The cave and the underground lake

The wide mouth of a cave at the end of a mossy slope — The mouth of the cave at the end of the moss path

The cave is dark, and its roof rises high overhead. You cannot see the storehouse from the entrance. After walking a good way in, the ground ends at a cliff, and below it spreads an underground lake glowing blue.

Climb down the cliff to the lakeshore and you will find stepping stones leading across the water to the storehouse. Blue goldfish swim in the lake. Nobody knows why the lake glows blue.

The blue-glowing underground lake, stepping stones and small storehouse seen from the cliff top deep in the cave — The underground lake seen from the top of the cliff

Stepping stones across the blue underground lake to a small lit storehouse — The stepping stones to the storehouse

It is dark inside the cave and the rocks and stepping stones are wet. Please watch your step. Do not scoop up or take away the goldfish in the underground lake.

The Kokebune Brewery

The Kokebune Brewery is a small storehouse facing the underground lake. The house is a single storey with a veranda, about six tatami mats in size. Brewing tools are set out beside the house too: wooden tubs and casks, earthenware jars, bamboo channels and a slowly turning wooden water-wheel, among them tools that work with the town’s water.

The sake is brewed with water that wells up between the rocks and rice grown in the fields of Tasuji in Tokomizu Town. The town’s rice is grown without pesticides, leaving the weeds and insects in the paddies to koi and aigamo ducks. In the quiet cool of the cave, the brewers steam the rice, make the koji, set the mash and press the sake.

Water welling up between rocks, caught by a bamboo spout in a vessel with a ladle — Brewing water welling up between the rocks

White rice in a wooden box with ears of rice; the storehouse and lake behind — Rice grown in Tasuji

A brewer steaming rice in a wooden steamer — Steaming rice in a wooden steamer

A brewer’s hands spreading rice in a wooden koji tray — Making koji

A brewer stirring the mash in a wooden tub with a paddle — Stirring the mash in a wooden tub with a paddle

A wooden press and cloth bags, with pressed sake flowing into a jar — The wooden press

The casks in the rock wall

Pouring sake from the brass tap of a cask set into the rock wall into a sake cup — Pouring from the tap of a cask in the rock wall into a sake cup

Casks sit in hollows in the cave’s rock wall, as if set into the stone. Each has a brass tap, so you can pour sake made in the storehouse into a cup and taste it on the spot.

Please follow the brewery staff’s guidance on how much to pour and how to drink.

The Blue Cave Hot Spring

Blue pools in terraces, a steaming hot spring and a brazier — Blue pools in terraces, with a brazier

Further into the cave beyond the storehouse is a place where blue pools step down in terraces. Of the pools scattered like rock pools, one is a hot spring. You can soak in the water beside the brazier and taste the brewery’s sake.

The other pools are not hot springs. Please do not go into any pool except the hot one.

A bottle of Hekisui and sake cups on a rock beside the Blue Cave Hot Spring — Hekisui and sake cups on a rock beside the hot spring

Please avoid long soaks after drinking.

Hekisui, a junmai daiginjo

Hekisui in its deep navy bottle with a sake cup, against a brazier and blue water — The deep navy bottle and washi-paper label

The Kokebune Brewery’s signature sake: clean, clear and fruity. It has an aroma reminiscent of white peach and pear, a faint sweetness and a crystal-clear finish. Beneath its light first impression, the savoury depth of the rice lingers quietly.

It goes down as easily as water, but it is 16% alcohol. Enjoy it chilled, slowly, from a small cup.

Name	Hekisui (碧水) HEKISUI
Category	Sake (junmai daiginjo, cave-brewed)
Rice polishing ratio	40%
Alcohol	16%
Volume	720 mL
Ingredients	Rice (Tokomizu Town), rice koji (Tokomizu Town rice) / 100% rice grown in Tasuji, Tokomizu Town
Brewer	Kokebune Brewery (Tenkyōgen, Tokomizu Town)
Storage	Keep refrigerated and away from light. After opening, keep refrigerated and drink soon

The Hekisui label: hand-written “碧水” on the front, the story and product details on the back — The Hekisui label: front and back are one continuous sheet

The notice on the bottle label

Sake only after your coming-of-age ceremony. Please do not row a boat after drinking.

The first pressing in November

The Kokebune Brewery’s first pressing of the season (the year’s first newly pressed sake) comes out in November. We will announce the date and quantity on this page and in the news as soon as they are decided.

In November the great waterfall thins after the Draining, and wide sandbars appear far out on Tenkyōgen. Boats may be delayed by the tide and the wind, so please allow plenty of time.

Video

The island from above, the moss path, the pond, the cave mouth, the underground lake from the cliff top, the stepping stones and storehouse, the Blue Cave Hot Spring and Hekisui (about 34 seconds, no sound, about 7.5 MB)

Getting there

Take a Tenkyōgen circuit boat or a tsujibune (taxi boat) to the landing below the island’s cliffs.
From the landing, walk up the moss path to the cave mouth. Please wear shoes that are easy to walk in inside the cave.
Boats may be delayed by the tide and the wind. Please keep an eye on the time of your boat back.

For visiting, tasting and bathing times, please ask the Kokebune Brewery.