The clear Kikuchi River runs through the town of Nagomi in Tamana County, in an area surrounded by green mountains. Nagomi is well-known for its abundance of springs and quality rice.

Nagomi’s only brewery is Hananoka Shuzo, founded in 1902. This brewery started when the father-son team of Kakuji and Mosaku Kanda took over managing a rice field owned by Myokenji Shrine and began to produce sake using water from a spring within the shrine. Originally named Kanda Shuzo, the brewery changed its name to Hananoka Shuzo in 1992.

“Hananoka Shuzo’s identity comes from this spring water and rice, and is what I want future generations to pass on,” says 6th-generation brewer Kiyotaka Kanda. After working in a number of different industries, Kanda returned back to Hananoka and took up his current post in 2014. While pondering what sake-making truly is, Kanda breathes life anew into his work through innovative activities like bringing his younger employees on trips to learn about sake.

Kanda renovated the small 500kg-scale brew house and improved Hananoka’s production by rethinking a wide variety of brewing processes. Kanda is also the chief brewer, and he joins with his young staff on the brewery floor to make sake. The current Hananoka product lineup is the result of numerous ingenious improvements. Working in small batches means they can make tweaks to production, e.g., with rice making, allowing for repeated trial-and-error and improved results. Hananoka has even tried its hand at making sake in the difficult summer months. Hananoka’s Ouka Junmai Daiginjo, made with 100% local Yamadanishiki rice using the traditional “hanging-beam press” method, received a gold medal at a London competition, bringing in even more Hananoka fans.

The goal is to have Nagomi, Kumamoto make world-famous sake. Hananoka continues to improve on its Ouka Junmai Daiginjo and aims to become a brand that will last for a thousand years.