The story
In Osaka’s Honmachi district, Nihonshuzammai Utsutsuyo is a Japanese sake specialist that lives by a simple truth: delicious sake makes you want delicious food, and delicious food makes you crave more sake. This izakaya, run by owner-chef Akihiro Fujii, has earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand for its ability to deliver both, year after year since 2016.
Fujii’s path to this philosophy began in Kagawa Prefecture, where he trained at a French and then a Japanese restaurant before a stint at a local sake specialist in Naniwa-ku. There, he was converted by the depth of sake’s appeal. In 2011, he opened Utsutsuyo to share that revelation.
The menu changes with the market, where Fujii selects seasonal ingredients each morning. Every dish is designed to complement the drinks, which include a rotating lineup of premium sakes from across Japan. The restaurant also operates the Osaka Doburoku Brewery, the city’s first dedicated doburoku (unfiltered sake) brewery, using rice grown without pesticides or fertilizers. Both the brewery’s output and other natural wines are available here.
The space is welcoming and versatile, with counter seating, tables, and a sunken kotatsu area for groups. Whether for a date, a business dinner, or a quiet solo evening, the atmosphere is refined but relaxed. The goal, as Fujii puts it, is to let guests experience the richness that emerges when food and drink are allowed to lift each other up.
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