Kuromatsuokina is made by Morimoto Senuemon, a brewery opened in 1844 by a merchant from Omi in the castle town of Iga, Mie Prefecture, after the operation later consolidated entirely to the Iga site. The brand name carries meaning rooted in the region's connection to Noh theater patronized by the Todo domain, with okina evoking the divine elder figure of the stage and kuromatsu the sacred black pine of its backdrop. Sake is brewed from Iga-grown rice and the soft water from the Suzuka mountain system.
