Watanabe Shuzo traces its roots to 1892, when Eisaku Watanabe, from a sake-brewing family in Niigata, established a brewery in the Nasu region of northern Tochigi Prefecture. The brand name Kyokuko, meaning rising sun, was chosen in 1912 when the brewery relocated eastward, with the hope of good fortune ahead. Today, fifth-generation head brewer Hidenori Watanabe, a certified Nanbu Toji and first-prize winner of the Nanbu Toji Contest, produces sake using underground water from the Yamizo Mountains and locally grown rice, with roughly 90% of output sold within the surrounding community.
