日本語で読む | This is the English version of a bilingual article.
Today’s Pairing
- Craft beer: Nara Brewing Co. “FUNCTION” — American-Belgo-Style Ale, 6.0% ABV, 24 IBU, a “hoppy saison” crossing Belgian saison yeast with a range of hops led by Nelson Sauvin alongside Cascade, Mosaic, Hallertau Blanc and Mandarina Bavaria; won gold in the American-Belgo-Style Ale category at World Beer Cup 2026 / Nara Brewing Co. (Kitanosho-Nishi-cho, Nara City, Nara Prefecture)
Official site: https://narabrewing.com/ - Music: “Ryoshu ~Ikaruga ni te~” (“Travel Blues, In Ikaruga”) by Akira Fuse (1977)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hfV0LaGNLY
▶ If the player above doesn’t play, open it on YouTube
The Story of the Brewery
Yasunori Namioka, the founder of Nara Brewing Co., was born in Nara Prefecture in 1979. While working as a civil servant for the Nara prefectural government from 2002, he grew drawn to the craft beer culture that hadn’t yet taken root in his home prefecture, and started frequenting beer bars in Osaka. When he told a bar owner he wished craft beer would spread in Nara, the answer he got back was simple: do it yourself. That led to an introduction to someone involved in founding Kyoto Brewing Co., who invited him to come train there if he was serious about it. He spent about two years training in Kyoto with independence as the goal, left the prefectural government in 2015, founded Nara Brewing Co. on July 4, 2017, and began brewing in his home prefecture in 2018.
In its first year and seven months, the brewery produced roughly 40 different beers, almost never repeating a recipe. FUNCTION is the one that eventually became its flagship. It’s an “American-Belgo-Style Ale” crossing Belgian saison yeast with hops more typical of a modern American IPA: Nelson Sauvin, with its white-wine-like, Sauvignon-Blanc aroma, takes the lead, layered with Cascade, Mosaic, Hallertau Blanc and Mandarina Bavaria, built on Pilsner malt, pale ale malt and Carapils. It runs 6.0% ABV and 24 IBU, with a dry, saison-driven finish carrying a touch of tartness that makes you want another glass. At World Beer Cup 2026, announced on April 23, 2026, FUNCTION took gold in the American-Belgo-Style Ale category while the brewery’s other flagship, LIGHTHOUSE, took gold in the Session Beer category — both chosen through a blind tasting by 255 judges from 38 countries, out of 8,166 entries from 50 countries.
The Story of the Land
About a 19-minute, 7-km drive from the brewery in Kitanosho-Nishi-cho, Nara City, lies Ikaruga, home to Horyuji Temple. Founded in 607 by Prince Shotoku and Empress Suiko, its West Precinct — rebuilt after a fire in 670 — is the world’s oldest surviving group of wooden buildings, and in 1993 it became Japan’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside Himeji Castle. Trace it back far enough, and Buddhism itself arrived across the sea from the Korean Peninsula and the continent in the 6th century. What stands today is the result of taking that in and layering continental building techniques over native Japanese woodworking — still standing after nearly 1,400 years.
Nara has another local dish with a similar origin story: Asuka-nabe. According to tradition, an envoy from Tang China presented Emperor Kotoku with a dairy product resembling condensed milk during the Asuka period, marking the beginning of milk-drinking culture in Japan. It was at first a drink reserved for nobility, but monks eventually started drinking it in secret too, and simmering chicken they had on hand in milk is said to be the origin of the hot pot — formalized into its present shape as a specialty of Asuka Village in the early Showa era. A custom that arrived from across the sea, turned over hundreds of years into something of this land. Horyuji and Asuka-nabe both trace the same kind of path.
The Story of the Song
Akira Fuse was born on December 18, 1947, in Tokyo. He debuted in 1965 at age 17 with the canzone-style “Kimi wa Namida to Hohoemi wo,” and built a career on his soaring voice. His 1975 hit “Shikuramen no Kaori” is widely remembered for winning the Japan Record Award.
“Ryoshu ~Ikaruga ni te~” was released on September 5, 1977, on the King Records label, with lyrics by Takashi Matsumoto, music by Makoto Kawaguchi and arrangement by Motoki Funayama. Opening with the line “if you’re going to travel to Ikaruga, autumn is better than spring,” the song layers the sights of an old town — a paperback of the Manyoshu, votive tablets at a temple — over the lingering trace of a lost love, as the season turns from autumn into winter. It peaked at No. 16 on the Oricon weekly chart, sold 135,000 copies, and was performed at the 28th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen at the end of that year.
Why This Pairing
FUNCTION is a beer built by bringing together two traditions that grew up in different places — Belgian saison yeast and American hops — inside a single glass. Namioka himself had put down roots in Nara as a prefectural employee, left to learn in Kyoto, and brought what he learned back home to brew. Horyuji in Ikaruga is a temple built by layering Buddhist building techniques that crossed the sea with native Japanese woodworking. Asuka-nabe took a dairy custom that arrived from the continent and turned it, over centuries, into a chicken hot pot. All three trace the same shape: things born somewhere else, meeting here, layering into something that earns a single name.
“If you’re going to travel to Ikaruga, autumn is better than spring” is a line written from the vantage point of a traveler passing through an old town — not someone who lives there. It’s precisely because a traveler doesn’t belong to the place that they can step back and see its layers at once. Noticing that Belgium and America have settled together in one glass might be a view that belongs less to the people who live here, and more to those of us just passing through for a drink.
Where to Find This Beer
The Rakuten Ichiba link below is an affiliate link.
- Brewery official site：https://narabrewing.com/
- Search on Rakuten Ichiba：see results for “奈良醸造 FUNCTION”
These are Japanese storefronts. If you are visiting the brewery, drinking it fresh at their own taproom is by far the best option.
Pairing Dishes Worth Trying
- Kaki-no-ha sushi (persimmon-leaf wrapped sushi)
A Nara standard: pressed sushi of salted mackerel or salmon wrapped in persimmon leaves. The dry tartness from the saison yeast rinses away the richness the fish leaves behind.
Recipe: Cookpad, “Nara Specialty: Easy Kaki-no-ha Sushi” (Japanese) - Asuka-nabe
A local dish from Asuka Village, Nara: chicken broth simmered with milk. The creamy richness of the milk is matched by FUNCTION’s citrus hop character and dry finish, which keep the dish from feeling heavy.
Recipe: Cookpad, “Ancient-Tradition Asuka-nabe, Healthy & Skin-Friendly Version” (Asuka Village, Nara Prefecture) (Japanese)
A note on the science: saison yeast produces gentle acids such as lactic and acetic acid during fermentation. That tartness works to neutralize the “heaviness” left behind by the fat in fish or dairy. On top of that, the white-grape and passionfruit-like aroma from Nelson Sauvin hops, carried by highly volatile aromatic compounds, layers over the scent of fat and lightens the overall impression.
Visiting the Brewery
Nara Brewing Co.
1-8-14 Kitanosho-Nishi-cho, Nara City, Nara Prefecture. Take the bus bound for Aeon Mall Yamatokoriyama from Kintetsu Koriyama Station, then walk about 8 minutes from the mall. The taproom attached to the brewery is open weekends only.
Sights Nearby
- Horyuji Temple / Ikaruga, Ikoma District | ~19 min, ~7.0 km by car from the brewery
Founded in 607 by Prince Shotoku and Empress Suiko. Rebuilt after a fire in 670, its West Precinct is the world’s oldest surviving group of wooden buildings, and in 1993 it became Japan’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also the very setting of today’s song.
Hot Springs Nearby
- Natural Hot Spring Yurara no Yu, Nara / Hachijo, Nara City | ~15 min by car from the brewery
A natural hot-spring sento just off the Koriyama interchange of the Nishi-Meihan Expressway. Open 7:00 to midnight, every day of the year, for day bathing.
Opening hours, closing days and day-use bathing availability can change. Please check each facility’s official information before visiting.
A Quick Glossary of Beer Terms
- Craft beer: Beer made by small breweries that put the character of the maker front and centre, as opposed to the uniformity of mass production.
- Ale: Beer made by top fermentation, with the yeast working near the surface at close to room temperature. It tends toward fruity aromas and a fuller body.
- Hops: The cones of a climbing plant, which give beer its bitterness and aroma. Depending on the variety, that aroma can read as citrus, tropical fruit or open grassland.
- Malt: Germinated barley. It forms the foundation of a beer’s sweetness, colour and body; how deeply it is roasted determines colour and toastiness.
- ABV: Alcohol By Volume. Beer typically runs around 5%; above 8% is considered a strong, heavier-drinking beer.
- IBU: International Bitterness Units, a scale for how bitter a beer tastes. Around 10 is barely noticeable bitterness; above 60 lands in clearly bitter IPA territory.
Sources
- Nara Brewing Co., official site
- Nara Brewing Co., “FUNCTION” product page
- Nara Brewing Co., “We won gold at World Beer Cup 2026”
- Japan Beer Journalists Association, brewery report on Nara Brewing Co.
- “Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area” — Japan’s World Heritage Sites
- Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, “Asuka-nabe, Nara Prefecture”
- “Ryoshu ~Ikaruga ni te~” — Wikipedia (Japanese)
- Akira Fuse — Wikipedia (Japanese)
If you notice any errors in this article, please don’t hesitate to reach out at info@soundrecords.jp.
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Read this article in Japanese: 遠くから来たものが、ひとつになる