Hakushika

Located in Nishinomiya, an area of Hyogo Prefecture situated between Osaka and Kobe, renowned for the very high quality of its sake, the Hakushika sakagura has contributed over the centuries to the prestige of the area thanks to its sake of extraordinary elegance. It all began in 1662 with Kichizaemon Tatsuuma, a skilled businessman who started the brewing business with an innovative vision. In the decades that followed, the size of the sakagura gradually increased, positioning Hakushika among the most important in Japan by the early 19th century. A very important role was then played by the Tatsuuma's naval transport of sake and the precious Miyamizu water, the most famous in the entire country. By the end of the 19th century, numerous awards and recognitions had already been won by Hakushika, which in 1889 became Japan's first sakagura by volume produced. Moreover, in the 1920s its sakes were among the first to be sold in glass bottles, a testament to the forward-thinking spirit that has always accompanied sakagura. Instead, in the 1950s, Hakushika sakes began to be exported around the world, first to the United States and then to Asian, European and Oceanian markets.

Hakushika's sake brewing process begins with the selection of rice, locally grown and belonging mainly to the Yamadanishiki variety, considered the most prized for sake. The grains are polished to as much as 50% or less and are combined with the precious Miyamizu water, an excellence of the Nishinomiya area, considered one of the main factors behind the quality of sake in the area. After cooking, the complex fermentation process is carried out by the Koji fungus, responsible for saccharification, and yeasts, which carry out alcoholic fermentation. Once these transformations are complete, the mass is finally pressed and the sake filtered and bottled after a suitable resting period.

The name 'Hakushika' literally means 'white deer', a name derived from an ancient Chinese legend in which the white deer is a symbol of prosperity and longevity, representing the long tradition of sakagura and the prosperous future that awaits it.