STORY 4 - An obsession for good ingredients

The history of Honkaku shochu, whose taste has been refined over years together with the associated culinary culture, matching the climate and natural features of many regions.

Since there is a strong feeling of connection between Oragamachi and its shochu, an earnest shochu-making tradition exists there with a deeply rooted ethos that does not allow producing second-class quality. It would not be an overstatement to say that this reflects the way of life of the people there.

It is further said that this form of sake-making embodies close relationships to the farmers. The approach of “making sake hand in hand with the farmers” has long been rooted in the shochu-brewing tradition since long time ago. The priority is “the real taste” rather than “profit”. It is said that, being obsessed with the degree of freshness of the ingredients, under the sake makers there were some who built a sake brewery directly next to the fields.

Not the slightest compromise will be made. This is a sake that befriends the flavors of the original ingredients. Led by this determination, sake brewing wove its own tale and, over a long period of time, became culture.