Kikkawa Jozo, founded in 1912 at the foot of Mount Tanzawa in Isehara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, relaunched the Afuri brand in 2021 after narrowly avoiding closure during the pandemic, emerging as part of the Shimada Group with renewed ambition. The brand name comes from the mountain's old name, Afuriyama or Mount Rainfall, a sacred peak long shrouded in mist. Brewed with unusually hard water rare in Japan, Afuri has already claimed platinum and gold awards at international competitions including Kura Master.
