Hakushika has been produced by Tatsuuma-Honke Brewing Company since its founding in 1662 in Nishinomiya, within Nada, the region historically regarded as the finest sake-producing district in Japan. The brewery's sake is built on miyamizu, a unique local water rich in phosphates and potassium that promotes vigorous yeast fermentation, discovered in Nishinomiya in the 1600s and still essential to the character of Hakushika today. By 1889 Tatsuuma-Honke had become the largest sake producer in Japan, and a gold medal at the Paris World's Fair followed; now in its 15th generation, the company has persevered through the destruction of World War II and the loss of all its production facilities in the 1995 Kobe earthquake.
