Kameman Shuzo was founded in 1916 in Tsunagi Town, Kumamoto Prefecture, when physician Chinju Takeda used rice received as payment for medical services to begin brewing sake, making the brewery the southernmost maker of naturally brewed sake in Japan. Facing Kumamoto's warm climate, which is rarely associated with sake production, the brewers refuse artificial climate control and instead cool the fermenting mash by adding large blocks of ice directly to the tanks, a technique called Nantan Kori Jikomi. The brewery sources only naturally grown rice from local farmers and is known for its signature nigori, a full-bodied unfiltered sake that remains its best-selling product.
