SINCE 1865
Mitsuura Brewery is a small brewery in Hofu, Yamaguchi, Japan. Founded in 1865 as a miso and soy sauce maker, we now craft teas that make everyday life a little brighter — led by our signature FLOAT LEMON TEA.
We slice and dry lemons grown on the Seto Inland Sea coast without anti-mould agents or wax, and let them float gently on black tea. Shipped direct from Japan, we hope you enjoy your own lemon moment.
1865
Founded in Hofu, Yamaguchi, in the first year of the Keio era. Began brewing miso and soy sauce.
1949
Incorporated as Mitsuura Jozo Kogyo Co., Ltd.
2015
FLOAT LEMON TEA selected for METI's The Wonder 500™.
2026
TEA HOUSE, our official direct store for overseas customers, opens.
160+
Years since founding
100+
Years our wooden barrels have served
2–3x
Koji used vs. standard miso
"Awaseru" — to bring flavors and people into harmony. It is the idea at the center of everything we do: harmonizing with the land's taste, with tradition, and with changing times.
PAST
Miso and soy sauce brewed the same way for 150 years. Protecting traditional flavor is the root of everything we do.
PRESENT
Floating dried lemon on black tea — with the fermenting and drying craft a brewery knows best, we make tea time no one has tasted before.
FUTURE
Reusable straws, lemons grown without anti-mold agents. For the next 150 years, we choose what is kind to the land.
In 1865, the first year of the Keio era, Mitsuura Jozo began brewing miso and soy sauce in Hofu, Yamaguchi. Local barley and soybeans, two to three times the usual amount of koji, wooden barrels over a century old — we have been making this "taste of home" for 150 years, and still do.
The turning point was a thought by eighth-generation head Kentaro Mitsuura: "Fermenting and drying are what we know best." Thinly sliced, dried lemons from the Setouchi coast — grown without anti-mold agents or wax — floated gently on black tea. Float Lemon Tea was born, and became so popular that select shops across Japan competed for it, at one point selling by lottery.
From a single slice of lemon came the heart-shaped Lemon Heart teas, dessert-like Candy Lemon Tea, and Japanese herbal blends. TEA HOUSE is this small brewery's first shop delivering directly to customers overseas — one cup that makes the everyday a little better, across the sea to your table.
How media in Taiwan and Japan have introduced us
In 2015, FLOAT LEMON TEA was selected for The Wonder 500™, Japan's METI program honoring outstanding regional products.
HOFU, YAMAGUCHI
Our shop in Hofu, Yamaguchi carries the full range of miso, soy sauce and lemon teas. If you're traveling in Japan, come see where these lemon teas are born.
Open 10:00–17:00 (closed weekends & holidays)
〒747-1232 山口県防府市台道4725
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