Sembazuru takes its name from the Japanese symbol of a thousand paper cranes, with the brand named after a famous novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Yasunari Kawabata, who had a personal connection with the Sato family. Sato Shuzo, established around 1917 in Oita Prefecture, is distinctive in the region for specializing exclusively in sake while most local producers focus on shochu. The brewery operates from an elevation of 700 meters near Mt. Kuju, where soft subsoil water and cold conditions support low-temperature fermentation.
