Hakkaisan Brewery was founded (president and CEO: Koichi Nagumo).
1953
Second president and CEO Kazuo Nagumo lays the foundations for modern-day Hakkaisan Brewery together with his team.
After the passing of Koichi in 1953, Kazuo Nagumo took over day-to-day company operations at the age of twenty-five. This young company president was assisted by his wife Ai, Kazuo was assisted by Yoshigoro Tomidokoro, who handled finances, and Takao Maruyama, who helped out with brewery work in general. In 1958, Haruo Takahama took on the job of toji (head brewer). Together, this team of five, who were all still in their twenties, laid the foundations for today’s Hakkaisan Brewery. With a singular and unwavering focus, they pursued high-quality sake featuring well-balanced, smooth-and-refreshing flavor that was intended for consumption during meals.
1955
Kowagura Brewery (Brewery No. 1) is completed.
1960s Showa Era
1970s Showa Era
1960s Showa Era
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1970s Showa Era
1964
Brewery No. 2 (West Brewery) is completed.
1967
Shared rice-polishing facility established by Hakkaisan Brewery and four other local sake breweries to streamline rice-polishing operations.
1975
Brewery No. 3 is completed.
1979
Additional investments are made for ingredient and personnel costs following discontinuation of price-discount framework and for purposes of quality improvements.
1980s Showa Era
1990s Showa Era
1980s Showa Era
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1990s Showa Era
1983
Japan’s first underground storage tank is completed at Hakkaisan Brewery.
1986
Company is incorporated as Hakkaisan Brewery Co., Ltd.
1989
New underground storage facility is completed.
This facility enabled, for the first time at Hakkaisan Brewery, long-term low-temperature product storage, leading to improved product quality.
High-grade sake production is started at Brewery No. 3.
The room once used for operations such as bottling and ingredient processing was renovated and turned into a ginjo- and daiginjo-grade sake production facility, and its equipment was expanded to enable brewing of high-grade sake.
1992
In-house rice polishing facility is completed.
As we pursued better and better sake quality, production amounts were also increasing year by year. This inevitably led to a need for larger amounts of high-quality rice, which is why we began in-house rice polishing operations. Through the introduction of sophisticated rice-polishing equipment, we were able to improve rice-polishing rates.
1994
Bottling facility for small-sized bottles is completed.
1995
Exporting to the United States is started.
1997
Jiro Nagumo becomes third president and CEO.
1998
Craft beer production is started.
2000s Heisei Era
2010s Heisei Era
2000s Heisei Era
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2010s Heisei Era
2001
Limited-time titanium bottle to celebrate the new millennium launches.
For this special sake, we used high-quality rice in order to achieve our target quality level. (This product is no longer available for purchase.)
2001
Ginjo-grade sake production facilities are expanded.
We completed a dedicated pipeline (approximately 4.2 kilometers in length) to collect groundwater for our brewing operations from Mount Hakkaisan’s Raidensama no Shimizu Spring, our regular water source.
2004
Daini(2nd) Kowagura Brewery is completed.
This brewery was constructed to realize our mission of delivering better sake to an increasingly wide range of customers. By eliminating inefficiencies in production facilities and streamlining production processes, we became able to spend more time on koji production, sake mash stirring and other labor-intensive processes that foster good sake, thus enabling a more high-quality product.
2005
Fukasawa Hara Brewery, which is now the Fukasawa Hara Distillery, is completed.
2007
Gourd-shaped bottles for Hakkaisan Junmai Ginjo and Hakkaisan Ginjo products are released.
Hakkaisan no Genshu de Shikonda Umeshu plum liqueur (made using undiluted Hakkaisan sake) is released.
2008
Hakkaisan Honkaku Kome Shochu Kikoji Sandan-jikomi Shochu Yoroshiku Senman Arubeshi (honkaku-grade rice shochu made using yellow koji and the sandan-jikomi three-stage brewing approach) is released.
This state-of-the-art clean room was built to prevent infiltration of airborne bacteria and foreign matter when transferring products from tanks to bottles, leading to better overall product quality.
2012
Sennen Koujiya brand is established.
Minamiuonuma is a cold region with heavy snowfall reaching three meters in depth, and it is here that a rich fermentation culture has developed. Sennen Koujiya is a food-product brand with roots in this culture, centering on the three themes of rice, koji and fermentation.
2013
Uonuma no Sato (meaning “Uonuma Village”) project officially starts.
2014
Kowagura Brewery is renovated.
With the goal of enhancing product quality further, we improved this brewery with the best possible production equipment and facilities currently available. To ensure that it is a special place where brewers can produce the high-quality sake they have always imagined, the Kowagura Brewery employs very small teams of brewers who rely not only on numbers and brewing theory, but on refined skills revolving around their five senses, when making their sake. Kowagura Brewery has become a place for these brewers to pass their refined skills and sensibilities down to future generations. In short, the brewery is the heart of Hakkaisan sake brewing endeavors.
2015
Straight bottle necks are implemented in all products, starting with 720-milliliter sake bottles.
Amazake production facility is relocated and expanded.
2016
Junmai-ginjo Hakkaisan Yukimuro-chozo Sannen (junmai-ginjo grade sake aged for three years in the snow storage room) is released.
This sake is unique to our snowy region. While harnessing the natural-energy cooling power of snow to keep sake-storage temperature fluctuations to a minimum, we age the sake for three years.
Binnai Nijihakko-shu Awa Hakkaisan (sake for which secondary fermentation takes place within the bottle) is released.
This sake is perfect for celebratory occasions. It utilizes a secondary fermentation process within the bottle to produce carbonic acid gas, which results in sparkling sake.
Whisky production license is obtained and whisky production in Uonuma starts.
2017
Grand Prix Award at 51st Good Company Awards is received.
2018
Sarukurayama Beer Brewery opens.
Existing beer rebrands as Hakkaisan Izumi Beer, and Hakkaisan Rydeen Beer releases.
2019
Group company Niseko Distillery is established.
2020s Reiwa Era
2020s Reiwa Era
2020
Line of “reint” brand cosmetic products are released.
The reint brand is a cosmetics product line with its roots in Mother Nature that centers on the three themes of rice, koji and fermentation.
2021
Hakkaisan Brewery USA is established in New York, USA.
Signed an agreement to provide operational funds to Brooklyn Kura brewery.
Hakkaisan Brewery collaborates with Brooklyn Kura, which is New York’s first craft sake maker and a leader in the American sake scene, based on our shared thinking and ideals in regard to sake brewing, our shared approach of developing business rooted in the local region, and our common aim of serving the global market. This agreement established a long-term partnership between our company and Brooklyn Kura, and by passing along the sake-making knowledge and techniques we have built up over the years to our partner while sharing our ideas and vision with them through joint projects, we hope to popularize sake throughout not only Japan, but the entire world, in order to enrich global culinary culture.
2021
Niseko Distillery opens.
Situated amidst the natural beauty of Niseko Annupuri Quasi-national Park and Yoteizan National Park, this snowy region in the Town of Niseko-cho provides the Niseko Distillery with high-quality soft water and clean, crisp air, as well as the temperature-change patterns, that are optimal for our target product quality. We founded Niseko Distillery Co., Ltd. within the corporate group to enable malt whisky production, and are currently moving forward with whisky distilling operations. We are confident in our goal of creating high-quality, exquisite, finely balanced Japanese whisky.
We are taking on the challenge of the next 100 years.
Moving forward, we intend to continue fostering a company culture that focuses on culinary lifestyles and excites our customers.
Ever since our founding in 1922, Hakkaisan Brewery has continually produced pure, delicious sake with its roots in the culture of Uonuma and its abundant natural blessings. By preserving and passing down our traditions, knowledge, and proven production techniques to future generations, we hope to contribute in even bigger ways to the local community and culinary culture. Hakkaisan Brewery continues to take on new challenges, sticking to our approaches and philosophies while constantly moving forward and learning through mistakes and failures as we try new things.
