Asamai Shuzo

Founded in 1917 by Suku Kakizaki with the help of some friends, Asamai Shuzo is a small craft sake brewery.

Located in the town of Hirakamachi Asamai in Akita Prefecture in northern Honshu, it was built in the Yokote basin where the Minase and Naruse rivers flow, renowned for its fertility and the purity of its spring water. Kakizaki was inspired by this ideal environment to name his sake; Amanoto or "Gateway to Paradise" comes directly from a very old song in Japanese culture.

The founder's philosophy is reflected in the choice of the brewery's location where everything is in perfect balance with nature. Water from the melting snow of the surrounding mountains is used to feed the rice fields in which the brewery's sake rice is grown. This water is then reabsorbed into the soil to finally flow back through many springs, including the "Biwanuma Kansen" spring used to brew Amanoto sake. 

As a guarantee of know-how and a taste for precision, the House produces only 700 koku (125 kiloliters) of sake per year. Since 2011, the brewery has specialized in the production of junmai sake with rice used that must be harvested locally within a 5 kilometer radius. The current Master Brewer or Toji, Mr. Koichi Moriya took over in 1992 and has proven his expertise by winning 5 gold medals for his sake.