Help me find this japanese plum wine

December 10, 2012 7:20 PM

While I was in Japan, I tasted some delicious plum sake. I wrote to the hotel asking for information on it. All I got was a link to a japanese site. Could you help find out the name or, better, where to buy it in the US?

The link they sent has a picture of the wine I tasted but the site appears to be a personal site of someone reviewing sake.

The hotel staff also told me that the sake was made in Bizen of Okayama district.

Searching for "sakuramuromachi" or "muromachi" (which is the only thing I can read from the picture) returns what seems to be another company, which lends me to think that "muromachi" might be a generic term.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

posted by edmz to food & drink (8 answers total)

I'd email the smart people at True Sake. If it is available for sale in the US, they will know, and if not, they'll likely be able to recommend something similar.
posted by judith at 7:50 PM on December 10, 2012

It looks like this is the company website, for Muromachi Shuzo Co., Ltd.

In case this helps:

SA Muromachi Shuzo
1342-1 Nishinaka Akaiwa-Shi
Okayama 709-0835 Japan
TEL: + 81 (86) -955-0029 (Japanese Only) FAX: + 81 (86) -955 to 6887
E-mail: [e-mail] . jp
posted by Houstonian at 7:56 PM on December 10, 2012

Their company Facebook page says this:

Sign up - we will update you about our SAKE TASTING EVENTS in US
Description
IMPORTED BY：
MUTUAL TRADING CO., INC.　　LOS ANGELES, CA 90013　　www.lamtc.com

DISTRIBUTED BY：
MUTUAL TRADING CO., INC.　　LOS ANGELES, CA 90013
N.Y. MUTUAL TRADING INC.　　MOONACHIE, NJ 07074
THE CHERRY CO., LTD.　　HONOLULU, HI 96818
NORTH AMERICAN FOOD DIST CO., INC.　　W.SACRAMENTO, CA 95691
N. A. SALES CO., INC.　　SO.SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94080

From this website talking about the same sake, there's a phone number for Mutual Trading Co., at the bottom:
Info: NY Mutual Trading, Inc.
201-933-9555
posted by Houstonian at 8:03 PM on December 10, 2012

Houstonian,

thanks for your help.

That was the company I found while searching. But I couldn't find that bottle in their website. I think that "sakura muromachi" means something generic like "texas beer" (I could be *very* wrong).

The hotel staff told me that it was made in Benzi, in Okayama.
posted by edmz at 8:24 PM on December 10, 2012

Are you looking for this particular brand of alcohol, or the genre in general? If it's the latter, it's called umeshu, and you should be able to find it in most Japanese markets. Choya is a brand I frequently see on shelves, even in my regular supermarket!
posted by homodachi at 8:42 PM on December 10, 2012

I don't know how helpful it is, but on Muromachi Shuzo Co.'s website, I found this product (translation) which looks to be your bottle. I also found what appears to be a blogger's review of the same product (translation).
posted by RichardP at 8:46 PM on December 10, 2012

Your link (which does appear to be a blogger reviewing drink) has a link here, which appears to be the manufacturer -- they have a Flash movie on the home page that shows several bottles the same shape as yours, although I can't quite make out the labels. They also have an English page.

This is your bottle.

Not sure if you can order it for overseas delivery, although they do offer delivery throughout Japan. You might email them to ask; chances are, if you use simple sentences and make very clear what you want to buy, somebody there will be able to help you, or direct you to their US importer.
posted by spacewrench at 8:46 PM on December 10, 2012

I don't know how I missed it. Yes, that seems to be to correct bottle on the Muromachi Suzo website. I will email them.

Thanks everybody for your help!!
posted by edmz at 8:55 PM on December 10, 2012