Zuiyo was founded in 1867 in Kawashiri, Kumamoto, as the first brewery in the prefecture to shift from traditional akazake (red sake) to clear seishu, helping define what Kumamoto sake would become. The brand name itself traces to a New Year's Day omen in 1889, when founder Tahachi watched a hawk pursue a sparrow into the brewery and interpreted the event as a fortunate sign, naming the sake Zuiyo, meaning good omen hawk. The brewery draws from an on-site well for its key brewing water, and its sake took first place at the National Sake Tasting Competition in 1920, helping elevate Kumamoto to prominence as a ginjo-producing region.
