Nishida Shuzoten, the only sake brewery in Aomori City, began making junmaishu in 1970 with a deliberate commitment to return to the roots of Japanese sake and brew genuinely authentic sake, commercializing the Denshu brand in 1973 and gaining national recognition when it was named best sake in Japan by the magazine Tokusengai in 1981. The brewery revived Kojonishiki, a near-mythical Aomori brewing rice variety, beginning in 1991, grounding Denshu in the agricultural identity of its home prefecture.
