Kita Shuzo was founded in 1820 in Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture, and the Kirakucho brand name expresses its founding wish: happiness (ki), good times (raku), and long life (cho). The ninth-generation brewer, Mayuko Kita, trained in the Noto Toji tradition and applies a 50-hour koji-making process, ten hours longer than industry standard, which builds greater body and acidity into the sake. The brewery's philosophy, captured in the goal of koku and kire (richness with a clean finish), is best expressed in the Kirakucho chokarakuchi junmai ginjo, an extra-dry sake with sake meter value +14 that balances deep rice umami against sharp dryness.
