Message from the President

In 1922, first-generation brewery head Koichi Nagumo founded Hakkaisan Brewery and began making sake in Minamiuonuma City on the grounds of a former castle looking up at sacred Mount Hakkaisan, and until the mid-1950s or so we were just a small-scale brewery in terms of production volumes.

After the founder passed away in 1953, his fourth son Kazuo Nagumo took over the brewery, running it together with four other members who had worked with his father. This new team was still making less than 55,000 liters annually, and found themselves starting out in the red with company debts surpassing assets. In other words, the brewery could go under at any time. However, as head of overall company operations, Kazuo had extremely talented and energetic coworkers by his side, and through hard work they were able to steadily grow their revenues. Yoshigoro Tomidokoro deftly handled financial tasks such as capital procurement, Takao Maruyama headed up bottling and other production tasks, and the toji (head brewer) Haruo Takahama cultivated the base flavors and aromatic qualities that define Hakkaisan sake. In addition,
my own mother Ai Nagumo attended to clients, treating them to home cooked meals during their visits. Based on a shared resolution to strengthen the company through production of well-balanced, smooth-and-refreshing sake intended for consumption during meals, everyone involved grew the brewery’s small operations and laid the foundations for today’s Hakkaisan Brewery. In 1997, it was my turn to take over where my celebrated predecessors had left off, so I took up the position of president and CEO.
We have always pursued high-quality sake with a well-balanced, smooth-and-refreshing flavor for the Hakkaisan brand. By delivering high-quality, regular sake that people can drink from day to day, we believe it is possible to push upward the value of higher-end sake varieties as well.

In 2021, we signed an agreement in the United States to provide operational funds to the sake brewery Brooklyn Kura in Brooklyn, New York. This decision was based on the conviction that, in order to elevate Japanese sake to the same level of global ubiquity as wine and beer, it is necessary to have locals in other countries produce their very own sake.
As participants in Japan’s sake culture movement, we endeavor to play our part in creating a new era for sake in the coming generations. Amid such efforts, we believe that it’s necessary to ensure ours is a company which has no end.
Continually making progress in perpetuity is, of course, of high importance. However, letting endeavors started in the past fade away and come to an end would render useless the time and effort expended on such business efforts— in short,
it would erase the systems and accomplishments our predecessors built up over so many years. The moment we let ourselves become overly satisfied with successes thus far and neglect new growth, our organization will start to decline, and this will ultimately lead to our demise. Therefore, in pursuit of a company that has no end, we will not allow ourselves to become complacently satisfied with currently produced lines; rather, we will continue to evolve and grow, always maintaining a sense of urgency in business matters as we constantly question and challenge ourselves to go further.
Adopting this approach will, in the end, enable each of us to take a more serious look at what life itself means on a personal level.

Based on a foundation comprising 100 years of knowledge and techniques in the areas of rice, koji and fermentation, Hakkaisan Brewery will encourage all employees to discover their true potential as we challenge ourselves to grow and progress in the coming era.