Hakutsuru Sake Brewing was founded in 1743 by Jihei Kano in the Nada district of Kobe, a region whose hard Miyamizu water and access to Osaka Bay established it as Japan's sake capital. The company was first to sell sake in prepackaged glass bottles in 1878 and brought the brand to international audiences at the 1900 Paris World Fair. Today Hakutsuru holds the largest sake sales volume in Japan, with its White Crane Maru brand occupying the top position among packaged sake nationwide.
