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About Us
Shimizu Family History
Migrating to the United States in the early 1920s, the Shimizu family has called Sonoma County home for more than 100 years.
Carrying forward generations of knowledge and traditional techniques, Bruce grew up watching his grandmother make sake using methods passed down through the family. She would later distill the sake into a higher-proof spirit, while making use of the remaining kasu—the flavorful byproduct of sake production—for pickled vegetables and homemade kimchi.
These traditions, rooted in family, resourcefulness, and craftsmanship, continue to inspire the Shimizu family’s approach to sake today.
Bruce's Story
Inspired by a lifelong passion for brewing, Bruce began his journey much like many others do—by exploring and enjoying the many local breweries throughout Sonoma County and Sacramento.
As the years passed and his children grew older, Bruce began thinking about what life after his professional career might look like. It was at this point that passion and family history began to converge.
Through countless conversations and visits with his good friend, Chris Nissen, an idea began to take shape: to pursue a passion for brewing while creating something that would honor and tell the story of his family.
Shimizu Sake Company was not born overnight. It is the culmination of more than 100 years of family history, generations of tradition, and a passion for craft—ultimately bringing the Shimizu family story full circle.
Bruce was born in 1956 in Cotati, Sonoma County, to Martin and Dorothy Shimizu. A fourth-generation Japanese American, Bruce was raised with a strong connection to his family, his community, and the values of hard work and perseverance.
He grew up on the family poultry ranch in Cotati alongside his two sisters and two brothers, working alongside his uncles and grandfather from an early age. Life on the ranch taught Bruce the value of hard work, responsibility, and making the most of every opportunity.
As he grew up, Bruce became increasingly aware that opportunities were not always readily available to Japanese Americans. He learned early that achieving what he wanted would require determination and, at times, working harder than others to achieve the same result.
Growing up in the late 1960s and early 1970s, many of the stigmas and prejudices that had emerged during and after World War II had not yet fully disappeared. Against the backdrop of the ongoing civil rights movement, Bruce found a deeper connection to his Japanese American community and saw firsthand the importance of standing together and supporting one another.
After graduating from high school, Bruce hoped to pursue higher education. However, financial challenges led him to take a different path first. He joined the United States Coast Guard, where he served for four years.
Those four years took Bruce throughout much of the Pacific, introduced him to people and places far beyond Sonoma County, and created lifelong friendships. It was also during this time that he experienced another small milestone of adulthood—having his first beer at a local bar.
The experiences Bruce gained during those years would become an important part of the person he would go on to become: independent, resilient, community-minded, and always willing to take a different path when opportunity called.
After returning home from the Coast Guard, Bruce attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where he studied Landscape Architecture.
Shortly after graduating, Bruce welcomed his first child, a daughter named Angela. A few years later, his second daughter, Katie, was born. From the beginning of fatherhood, Bruce found a new purpose in life. He has always said that he lives for his children—and those who know him can see that commitment in everything he does.
Over the following decade, Bruce dedicated himself to building a strong foundation for his family, working to create opportunities and a better future for his children. His goal was never simply to provide for them, but to give them the tools, guidance, and support they would need to build lives of their own.
After remarrying in 1998, Bruce’s family continued to grow with the arrival of his third daughter, Cecelia. In 2000, his youngest child and only son, Ron, was born.
From the birth of his first child to the present day, Bruce’s central purpose has remained unchanged: to provide for, support, and guide each of his children to the best of his ability.
For Bruce, family has always been more than a responsibility. It has been his greatest motivation—and the foundation upon which everything else has been built.
With all of his children now grown, Bruce has reached a point in life where he can finally turn his attention back toward the passion that first began taking root when he was a child—watching his grandmother make sake.
For the past decade, Bruce has dedicated himself to polishing, refining, and mastering the art of sake brewing. What began as childhood memories and family tradition gradually became a lifelong pursuit, and with the support of the very family he spent his life building and providing for, that dream is now becoming a reality.
Shimizu Sake Company represents more than a passion for brewing. It represents a return to Bruce’s roots, a continuation of family tradition, and the culmination of more than a century of history.
Here’s to the lifelong pursuit of happiness, love, family, and the traditions that connect us to where we came from.
This company is dedicated to our ancestors, whose shoulders we stand on today.
